w' 


I 


PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 


SIR  OLIVER  LODGE,  author  of 'RAYMOND,"  says:  ''I  com- 
mend this  worJi  as  an  authoritative  addition  to  the  proofs  of 
supernormal  human  faculty  and  incidentally  to  the  evidence 
for  survival  of  personality  beyond  bodily  death." 


H 

n 


Being  a  verbatim  record  of  sittings  with 
certain  well-known  mediums^  among  them 
that  mentioned  by  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  in 
"Raymond." 

With  evidence  that  led  the  author  from 
agnosticism  to  belief  in  the  survival  of  per- 
sonality beyond  death — together  with  chap- 
ters on  the  psychical  phenomena  of  earlier 
times,  the  telepathic  difficulty,  the  influence 
of  rapport  objects,  the  subliminal  con- 
sciousness, the  relation  of  psychical  research 
to  religion,  and  k^*t»4red  matters. 


PSYCHICAL 
INVESTIGATIONS 

SOME  PERSONALLY-OBSERVED 
PROOFS  OF  SURVIVAL 


BY 
J.  ARTHUR  HILL 


,,',>"/ 

^,/V-^ 


author  of 

'new  evidences  in  psychical  research,"  "religion  and 

modern  psychology,"  "spiritualism  and 

psychical  research,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


LIBRARY 


COPYRIGHT,  191 7,  BY 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PKINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA 


PREFACE 

In  debatable  matters,  such  as  psychical  research, 
readers  may  naturally  wish  for  information  which  shall 
enable  them  to  estimate  the  amount  of  a  writer's  bias. 
It  may  therefore  be  useful  to  affirm  that,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  my  investigations,  my  prejudices  and  wishes 
were  opposed  to  the  conclusions  which  the  facts  gradu- 
ally forced  upon  me.  If  I  am  now  biased  in  favour  of 
the  belief  in  personal  life  after  death,  it  is  objective 
fact,  not  subjective  preference,  that  has  brought  it 
about.  And  my  judgments  have  not  been  hasty.  I 
have  worked  at  the  subject  for  over  eleven  years. 

Chapters  I.,  II.,  and  X.  have  appeared  as  articles 
in  the  Quests  Nineteenth  Century  and  After ^  and  Occult 
Review  respectively.  I  thank  the  Editors  and  Pub- 
lishers for  their  kind  permission  to  reprint.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  book  appears  now  for  the  first  time. 

I  must  beg  the  reader's  indulgence  for  the  repetition, 
in  the  central  verbatim  reports,  of  certain  matter  which 
appears  in  earlier  chapters.  It  seemed  desirable  to 
present  this  matter  in  connected  form  as  an  easily- 
readable  introduction  to  the  detailed  records;  but  the 
latter  are  necessary  also,  for  in  these  things  fullness 
and  exactness  are  essential. 

J.  A.  H. 

Bradford, 


615776 


"Cebes  answered!  I  agree,  Socrates,  in  the  greater  part  of 
what  you  say.  But  in  what  concerns  the  soul,  men  are  apt  to 
be  incredulous;  they  fear  that  when  she  has  left  the  body  her 
place  may  be  nowhere,  and  that  on  the  very  day  of  death  she 
may  perish  and  come  to  an  end — immediately  on  her  release 
from  the  body,  issuing  forth  dispersed  like  smoke  or  air  and  in 
her  flight  vanishing  away  into  nothingness.  If  she  could  only 
be  collected  into  herself  after  she  has  obtained  release  from 
the  evils  of  which  you  were  speaking,  there  would  be  good 
reason  to  hope,  Socrates,  that  what  you  say  is  true.  But 
surely  it  requires  a  great  deal  of  argument  and  many  proofs 
to  show  that  when  the  man  is  dead  his  soul  yet  exists,  and  has 
any  force  or  intelligence." — Plato,  Phado  (Jowett's  trans.). 

"I  am  confident  that  there  truly  is  such  a  thing  as  living 
again  and  that  the  living  spring  from  the  dead,  and  that  the 
souls  of  the  dead  are  in  existence,  and  that  the  good  souls  have 
a  better  portion  than  the  evil." — Ibid,  (Socrates  speaking). 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGK 

I.    Immortality 11 

II.    Investigation:  Methods  and  Examples      .  20 

III.  Further  "Meeting"  Cases 38 

IV.  Other  Incidents 51 

V.    Introduction  to  Detailed  Reports  .     •     .  63 

VT.    Medium's  Letters,  and  Reports  ....  69 
Sittings: 

1.  July  21st,  1914  (with  Wilkinson)  .     .  71 

2.  December  14th,  1914 74 

3.  January  15th,  1915 79 

4.  November  19th,  1915 90 

5.  January  19th,  1916 93 

6.  February  17th,  1916  ......  102 

7.  April  12th,  1916 Ill 

8.  April  19th,  1916 117 

9.  June  5th,  1916 132 

10.  August  2nd,  1916    .......  142 

11.  September     11th,     1916     (with     Tom 

Tyrrell) 156 

vii 

I 


viii  CONTENTS 

CBAFTEB  PAQB 

Sittings  (continued) : 

12.  September  22nd,  1916  (with  Wilkin- 

son)    . 179 

Table   of   Sittings,   With   Principal 
Names  and  Incidents 185 

A  Crucial  Test 187 

13.  March  2nd,  1916  (with  A.  V.  Peters)     190 

14.  March  3rd,  1916  "  200 

VII.    Of     Mediums,     Sitters,     and     "Trivial" 

Evidence 214 

VIII.  False  Statements  and  Their  Explana- 
tion, AND  Remarks  on  Wilkinson's 
"Forms" 221 

IX.  Home  Mediumship 235 

X.  Telepathy  and  Survival 242 

XI.  Influences  or  Rapport-Objects  ....  252 

XII.  Psychical  Phenomena  in  Earlier  Times  .  261 

XIII.  Pre-Existence   and   the   Nature   op   the 

After-Life     ........     272 

XIV.  Psychical  Research  and  Religion    .     .     .     286 
Index 301 


PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 


PSYCHICAL 
INVESTIGATIONS 


CHAPTER  I 

IMMORTALITY 

AT  different  times,  or  at  the  same  time  in  different 
minds,  different  aspects  of  Religion  are  empha- 
sised. One  school  may  lay  stress  on  morals  and  social 
duty;  another  may  emphasise  the  sacramental  aspect; 
a  still  more  thoroughly  mystical  school  may  concern 
itself  with  attaining  divine  union  without  special 
symbolism;  and  no  doubt  many  other  divisions  or 
subdivisions  might  be  specified.  All  are  good  in  their 
way,  for  all  of  them  are  helpful  to  one  or  other  of  us. 
But  in  the  present  terrible  times,  when  a  great  war 
has  spread  mourning  through  many  lands,  there  is  an- 
other aspect  which  inevitably  comes  into  special  prom- 
inence; namely,  the  question  of  the  continuity  of  the 
personal  self  past  the  wrench  of  bodily  death.  These 
millions  of  splendid  young  men  who  have  made  the 
great  sacrifice  just  at  the  period  when  life  was  most 
dear — can  we  reasonably  believe  that  they  are  gone  out 
of  existence,  that  such  a  superb  triumphing  of  will  over 
instinct  and  self  is  followed  by  annihilation^  We  feel 
that  any  such  belief  would  involve  pessimism  of  the 
most  radical  kind.     It  would  condemn  the  Universe; 

II 


12  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

and  we  feel  that  it  cannot  be  true.  But  we  want  more 
than  feeling,  for  this  is  a  scientific  age.  We  must  con- 
sider the  subject  in  the  dry  light  of  reason.  What, 
then,  can  we  say  about  survival  of  bodily  death?  And, 
to  clear  the  ground,  we  must  first  discuss  the  more 
usual  term  of  "immortality." 

Dictionaries  mostly  say  that  immortality  is  the  con- 
dition or  quality  of  being  immortal,  and  that  "immor- 
tal" means  "exempt  from  death,"  which,  indeed,  is  its 
obvious  etymological  signification.  Implicitly,  then,  if 
I  say  that  I — the  "I"  as  known  to  me — am  immortal,  I 
mean  that  the  existence  of  that  self  is  endless;  that  I 
shall  go  on  for  ever.  A  very  depressing  and  indeed  ter- 
rifying thought,  as  the  child  in  Emerson's  essay  real- 
ized. "What!  will  it  never  stop?  What  I  never  die? 
never ^  never?    It  makes  me  feel  so  tired!"  ^ 

But  a  further  question  arises.  How  can  we  go  on 
being  the  same  for  ever?  We  find  in  our  present  life, 
which  is  all  we  have  to  judge  by,  that  we  are  continu- 
ally changing.  We  are  ceaselessly  hiving  new  experi- 
ences, by  the  external  action  of  the  world  (including 
other  human  beings)  upon  us  through  our  senses,  by  the 
so-to-speak  internal  action  of  the  natural  development 
and  ageing  of  our  own  bodies,  and  by  intuitions.  There 
is  alteration,  growth,  progress  forward.  We  acquire 
larger  and  larger  experience-fields;  and  even  when  in 
extreme  age  the  memory  for  details  begins  to  wane, 
there  often  and  perhaps  generally  remains  a  mellow 
wisdom,  a  sort  of  serene  ripeness,  which  strikes  us  as 
superior — ^judging  by  the  highest  standards — to  the 
phase  of  great  knowledge  of  detail,  which  preceded  it. 
In  short,  there  is  change  and  development.    The  man 

*  Essay  on  Immortality. 


IMMORTALITY  13 

at  seventy  is  very  different  from  what  he  was  at  seven, 
or  from  what  he  was  just  after  birth.  If,  then,  a  short 
seventy  years  can  thus  transform  an  individual  quite 
out  o£  recognition,  making  him  more  different  from 
himself  of  seventy  years  ago  than  he  is  from  any  other 
fellow-adult,  and  tremendously  more  different  than  he 
is  from  a  fellow-septuagenarian  of  the  same  nationality 
and  class,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  possibilities  of  end- 
less aeons?  Do  we  not  perceive  that  this  idea  of  per- 
sonal immortality  is  a  sort  of  verbal  self-contradiction*? 
If  there  is  to  be  continued  experience  of  any  conceivable 
kind,  we  shall  change  out  of  all  recognition,  and  shall 
therefore  not  be  the  "same."  It  is  an  inaccuracy  to 
say  that  the  septuagenarian  is  the  "same"  as  the  baby 
from  which  he  has  evolved.  Much  less  can  we  remain 
the  "same"  after  long  periods  of  time,  filled  with  new 
experiences.  The  tree  is  not  the  same  as  the  acorn 
from  which  it  grew;  it  has  less  resemblance  to  it  than 
it  has  to  other  trees.  Similarly,  taking  the  reality  of 
Time  for  granted,  for  the  purpose  of  the  present  argu- 
ment— though  as  a  matter  of  fact  this  doctrine  is 
debatable — and  assuming  continued  experience,  on  the 
analogy  of  the  present  life,  we  see  that  if  we  are  im- 
mortal we  shall  develop  into  beings  of  some  inconceiv- 
ably superior  order — trees  to  our  present  acorns — ^much 
more  like  each  other  than  like  our  present  selves.  There 
will  be  no  identity  with  these  present  selves.  "Per- 
sons" are  not  immortal;  for  their  personality  changes. 
Even  if  we  make  the  venturesome  suppositions  of 
reincarnation  and  the  recovery  of  all  past  memories 
in  some  future  condition,  the  difficulty  will  still  remain. 
There  has  been  development,  increase  of  experience, 
growth,  and  the  final  product  is  not  the  same  thing  as 


14  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  thing  that  began.  Change  involves  death — the 
death  of  the  preceding  state.  Personal  immortality, 
then,  if  it  connotes  experience  at  all — and  we  can  con- 
ceive no  consciousness  without  experience  being  in- 
volved— and  if  Time  is  fundamentally  real,  is  a  con- 
tradiction in  terms,  and  cannot  be  discussed. 

Personal  survival  of  bodily  death,  however,  is  a 
more  defensible  phrase.  It  may  be  incorrect  to  say 
that  I  am  the  same  person  that  I  was  ten  minutes  since 
— strictly  speaking,  it  is  incorrect — but  as  a  useful 
though  loose  phrase  it  is  allowable.  And  if  it  is,  it  is 
equally  allowable  to  say  that  I  may  be  the  same  person 
five  minutes  after  death  that  I  was  five  minut^^s  before 
it.  Such  short  periods  do  not  allow  of  such  develop- 
ment as  to  change  our  forms  of  manifestation  beyond 
recognition.  The  word  "same"  conveys  at  least  some 
meaning.  There  is  close  similarity,  if  not  identity. 
We  are  not  yet  concerned  with  the  question  of  whether 
persons  do  survive  death,  but  only  with  the  question  of 
legitimacy  of  terms,  in  order  to  clear  the  ground.  Per- 
sonal immortality,  then,  is  a  meaningless  or  self-con- 
tradictory expression  and  must  be  avoided.  Personal 
survival  of  death  is  legitimate,  being  based  on  common 
usage,  and  having  a  meaning,  though  a  vaguely-defined 
one.  And,  indeed,  this  personal  survival  of  bodily 
death  is,  for  the  most  part,  what  people  really  mean 
by  immortality.  They  do  not,  as  a  rule,  hanker  after 
endless  ages  of  existence,  or  worry  themselves  about 
the  metaphysics  of  Time.  No;  they  merely  want  an 
extension,  so  to  speak,  of  the  present  state  of  affairs; 
some  assurance  or  some  hope  that  death  does  not  mean 
an  utter  darkness  and  annihilation.  They  want  to  be- 
lieve that  it  is  "a  covered  way,  leading  from  light  to 
light,  through  a  brief  darkness,"  as  Longfellow  and 
most  of  his  brother  poets  have  thought. 


IMMORTALITY  15 

At  least,  it  is  the  general  notion  that  this  is  what 
people  do  want  to  believe  and  are  ready  to  believe,  on 
sufficient  reason  or  evidence  being  produced.  Whether 
it  is  as  much  so  as  is  supposed  may  be  doubted.  The 
state  of  mind  of  the  average  individual  with  regard  to 
the  question  of  his  wishes  about  a  future  life  is  prob- 
ably rather  chaotic.  If  you  ask  a  man  whether  he 
wants  a  future  life  or  not,  and  if  he  is  a  man  who 
thinks  for  himself  and  does  not  automatically  respond 
with  the  stock  phrases  of  his  pastors  and  masters,  he 
will  answer  in  one  or  other  of  various  and  perhaps 
equally  surprising  ways.  He  may  say  "Yes"  or  "No," 
or  that  he  doesn't  care  and  never  thinks  about  it  if 
he  can  help  it — which  last  answer  would  probably  be 
true  for  very  many  people  who  would  be  rather  shocked 
at  the  idea  of  admitting  it!  But,  indeed,  there  is  no 
harm,  but  rather  good,  in  facing  ourselves  frankly  on 
this  as  on  all  other  questions.  There  can  be  no  good 
in  sham  and  hypocrisy  and  self-deception  of  any  kind. 
There  is  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  in  the  admission 
that  you  never  think  about  immortality  or  survival 
if  you  can  help  it.  Certainly  it  was  illogical  of  the 
man  who  expected  to  go  to  everlasting  bliss  when  he 
died,  but  did  not  want  to  talk  about  such  depressing 
subjects;  but  it  is  not  illogical  to  avoid  the  subject  if 
you  have  no  particular  convictions  about  the  ever- 
lasting bliss.  And,  after  all,  it  is  this  world  that  we 
are  living  in,  and  there  is  plenty  to  do  in  it.  If  we 
were  continually  speculating  about  the  next  we  should 
neglect  many  duties.  We  are  social  beings,  with  vari- 
ous obligations  to  our  fellows. 

And  this  brings  us  to  another  consideration,  namely, 
that  of  the  fundamental  unity,  or  possible  unity,  of 


i6  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

many  things  which  now  seem  sundered.  The  late 
Professor  James  said,  in  his  free-and-easy  way — as  if 
it  didn't  matter  much — that  a  sort  of  anima  mundi, 
thinking  in  all  of  us,  seems  a  more  promising  hypo- 
thesis than  that  of  "a  lot  of  absolutely  individual 
souls."  ^  Our  reception  of  this  cavalier  remark  will 
vary  according  to  temperament.  Those  who  want  to 
''remain  themselves,"  like  Peer  Gynt  when  the  Button- 
Moulder  wanted  to  melt  him  down  again  for  a  fresh 
start,  will  resent  it.  They  will  not  like  the  idea  that 
they  are  not  really  individuals — separate  and  walled- 
off  entities,  which  will  for  ever  remain  themselves.  A 
friend  of  mine,  a  man  of  heart  and  head,  told  me  not 
long  ago  of  his  feelings  when  looking  out  over  the  sea. 
The  thought  occurred  to  him  that  human  individuals 
were  perhaps  only  like  the  wavelets  which  rose  and  fell 
on  the  water's  surface;  parts  of  a  greater  whole,  but 
still  only  temporarily  existing  forms,  evanescent,  con- 
tributory but  non-essential,  relatively  unimportant. 
And  the  thought  filled  him  with  sadness:  if  he  had 
believed  it  true,  his  sadness  would  have  reached  the 
point  of  despair.  Curiously  enough,  this  same  thought 
has  no  terror  for  me.     I  feel  more  like  Mrs.  Stetson : — 


What  an  exceeding  rest  'twill  be 
When  I  can  leave  off  being  Me! 
To  think  of  it !  at  last  be  rid 
Of  all  the  things  I  ever  did ! 


Why  should  I  long  to  have  John  Smith 
Eternally  to  struggle  with? 
.    .    .    Rest  and  Power  and  Peace 
Must  surely  mean  the  soul's  release 

^Principles  of  Psychology,  vol.  i.,  p.  346. 


IMMORTALITY  17 

From  this  small  labeled  entity, 
This  passing  limitation — Me !  ^ 

However,  perhaps  both  my  friend  and  I  are  right. 
Perhaps  we  survive  death  and  pass  on  into  a  better 
but  not  wholly  dissimilar  state: — 

No  sudden  heaven,  nor  sudden  hell,  for  man. 
But  thro'  the  Will  of  One  who  knows  and  rules — , 
And  utter  knowledge  is  but  utter  love —  ] 

iEonian  Evolution,  swift  or  slow,  ' 

\    Thro'  all  the  Spheres — an  ever  opening  height, 
An  ever  lessening  earth,^ 

and  then,  when  the  desire  of  continued  personality  is 
extinct,  merge  into  the  primal  source,  "ascend  into 
heaven,"  reach  the  final  stage.  Icebergs  survive  from 
day  to  day,  though  gradually  changing,  as  we  may 
change  in  the  forms  of  our  manifestation  through  a 
series  of  planes  or  lives;  but  they  sink  at  last  into  the 
element  which  gave  them  birth.  Rivers  survive  from 
mile  to  mile,  losing  by  evaporation,  gaining  by  tribu- 
taries, and  continually  changing  their  volume  and 
shape;  but  they  merge  in  the  ocean  at  last — "even 
the  weariest  river  winds  somewhere  safe  to  sea."  In- 
deed, the  well-known  hymn  recognizes  the  parallel,  and 
uses  the  figure  as  an  analogy: — 

Rivers  to  the  ocean  run, 
Nor  stay  in  all  their  course, 

*  The  Cosmopolitan  of  some  unknown  date.  It  reminds  one  of 
J.  Addington  Symonds's  "sanguine  hope"  of  "resumption  into  the 
personal-unconscious";  the  "immeasurably  precious  hope  of  ending 
with  this  life  the  ache  and  languor  of  existence" — Biography,  by 
H.  F.  Brown,  p.  416.  But  Symonds  was  an  invalid;  this  attitude 
is  not  the  product  of  health  and  soundness.  My  agreement  with  him 
is  probably  due  to  likeness  in  physical  constitution. 

"  Tennyson,  The  Ring. 


i8  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Fire  ascending  seeks  the  sun, 
Both  speed  them  to  their  source; 
So  a  soul  that's  born  of  God 
Pants  to  view  His  glorious  face. 
Upward  tends  to  His  abode 
And  rests  in  His  embrace. 

The  hymn-writer  is  a  little  ambiguous — probably 
he  rather  hesitated  at  the  absorption  idea — but  the 
unity-thought  is  there,  as  indeed  it  is  in  a  great  pro- 
portion of  the  world's  religious  literature.  The  mystic, 
whether  Christian,  Buddhist,  Mohammedan,  or  Taoist, 
aims  at  a  union  with  the  Divine,  a  renunciation  of  his 
own  small  and  unsatisfactory  self.  The  idea  is  ex- 
pressed by  Virgil,  in  one  of  his  most  earnest  passages : — 

To  God  again  the  enfranchised  soul  must  tend, 
He  is  her  home,  her  Author  is  her  End ; 
No  death  is  hers ;  when  earthly  eyes  grow  dim 
Starlike  she  soars,  and  Godlike  melts  in  Him.^ 

It  is  the  idea  of  the  Christian  hymn  just  quoted. 
And,  indeed,  it  was  taught  by  that  great  saint  and 
missionary  whom  we  may  call  the  lieutenant  of  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  for  his  doctrine  was  that  in 
Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being,  even  now, 
though  we  fail  to  realise  it. 

But  though  some  such  conception  may  be  present 
to  the  minds  of  most  really  religious  people,  and  cer- 
tainly to  the  minds  of  all  mystics,  it  is  not  held  by  the 
majority  of  human  beings  in  the  West.  We  Western- 
ers are  individualists.  We  are  great  on  Personality. 
Consequently,  whatever  the  mystic  or  Mrs.  Stetson  may 
say,  and  however  we  may  agree  with  them  in  the  com- 

*F.  W.  H.  Myers's  translation  in  Classical  Essays,  p.  175    (from 
Georgics,  iv.) 


i 


IMMORTALITY  19 

paratively  rare  moments  when  we  are  uncomfortably 
disgusted  with  ourselves  and  our  activities,  we  usually 
think  of  Immortality  as  a  proximate  survival  of  the 
personality  past  bodily  death,  not  worrying  much 
about  more  ultimate  things.  But  the  question  is,  is 
such  survival  a  fact^  If  men  die,  shall  they  live 
again,  and,  if  they  do,  with  what  body  do  they  come? 
What  is  their  experience  like,  in  their  new  state  *? 

Some  of  these  questions  are  now  answerable.  Not 
answerable  in  as  complete  and  cut-and-dried  a  way  as 
some  would  have  us  believe,  for  it  is  certain  that  any 
description  of  a  spiritual  world  in  materialistic  terms 
must  be  wrong  or  inadequate;  but  answerable  at  least 
as  to  the  main  points.  The  advance  in  psychical  re- 
search during  the  last  thirty  years  enables  us,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  to  go  as  far  as  that,  to  say  that  personal 
survival  is  a  fact,  and  that  something — not  everything 
— ^may  be  learnt  of  the  surviving  spirit's  state  and 
powers  and  interests  and  feelings. 


CHAPTER  II 

investigation:  methods  and  examples 


But  the  task  of  attaining  scientific  conviction  is  not 
easy.  Our  generation  has  grown  up  in  a  materialis- 
tic atmosphere,  and  we  do  not  easily  get  out  of  it. 
We  run  in  the  old  grooves,  and  a  pretty  violent  jolt 
is  required,  or  long-continued  pressure,  to  lift  us  up  and 
get  us  free.  Consequently  it  is  generally  found  that 
the  reading  of  books  about  survival  does  not  prove 
very  effective.  Even  the  forty-odd  volumes  of  Pro- 
cee dings  and  Journal  of  the  Society  for  Psychical 
Research,  which  are  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the 
presentation  of  actual  evidence,  may  be  read  without 
any  resultant  change  or  gain  in  belief.  The  reader 
may  be  impressed,  but  he  will  not  be  convinced.  The 
people  he  is  reading  about  are  unknown  to  him,  and 
they  may  have  made  mistakes.  Perhaps  they  strongly 
wished  to  believe  in  a  future  life,  and  consequently 
were  unable  to  state  the  case  in  a  quite  unprejudiced 
fashion.  Other  doubts  also  arise.  If  the  investigators 
are  eminent  in  science,  philosophy,  or  letters,  the  lay- 
man reader  wonders  whether  these  people  of  the  labora- 
tory or  the  study  are  the  best  qualified  to  detect  a 
fraudulent  medium;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inves- 
tigator is  a  shrewd  business  man,  the  reader  says  to 
himself :  "Well,  this  writer  has  had  no  scientific  train- 

20 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  21 

ing:  can  I  safely  take  him  as  reliable*?''  Then  there 
are  the  various  difficulties  about  telepathy  and  the  like. 
Conviction  remains  unattainable. 

The  upshot  of  this  is  that  personal  experience  is 
necessary.  The  seeker  must  investigate  for  himself. 
(He  must  not  expect  to  reach  another  person's  point 
of  view  without  laborious  travelling.  He  will  have 
to  go  over  the  same  ground,  or  similar  ground,  and 
will  have  to  surmount  the  same  obstacles  as  that  other 
person  had  to  struggle  with  before  him.  And  instead 
of  grumbling  at  this,  he  should  be  thankful  that  at 
least  the  direction  is  indicated,  and  some  sort  of  track 
made.  His  task  will  therefore  be  a  little  easier  than 
was  that  of  his  precursors.  The  pioneering  work  is 
done. 

And,  this  being  so,  perhaps  I  overestimate  the  need 
of  personal  experience.  It  was  necessary  for  me,  but 
I  am  of  exceptionally  sceptical  habit  of  mind,  and 
I  was  steeped  in  Spencer,  Mill,  and  others  of  the  nega- 
tive school  of  those  days.  With  the  present  genera- 
tion it  may  be  different.  Certainly  I  am  far  from 
wishing  that  all  should  become  "psychical  researchers." 
TThe  investigation  is  best  left  to  specialists,  as  in  other 
sciences;  and  perhaps  most  people  will  be  able  to 
feel  that  the  records  already  in  existence,  though  not 
furnishing  absolutely  knockdown  proof,  are  neverthe- 
less sufficient  to  render  the  old  materialism  an  improb- 
able hypothesis  and  to  open  the  door  to  that  belief  in 
a  spiritual  world  which  is,  as  Myers  said,  the  preamble 
of  all  religions. 

Those  inquirers  who  still  seek  experience  of  their 
own — and  in  many,  perhaps  the  majority  of  cases,  this 
desire  will   be  felt — must  seek  it  in  the   way   best 


22  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

adapted  to  their  individual  circumstances.  No  doubt 
the  ideal  thing  is  to  get  into  touch  with  some  private 
person  who  has  these  peculiar  psychic  powers  of  clair- 
voyance or  trance ;  who,  by  making  the  mind  quiet  and 
hushing  the  turmoil  of  the  external  senses,  can  perceive 
in  other  and  finer  ways,  obtaining  knowledge  not  nor- 
mally possessed.  Full  and  careful  notes  should  be 
taken  of  all  that  is  said  by  both  sensitive  and  sitter,  so 
that  it  is  known  how  much  information,  if  any,  has 
been  given  away.  This  is  not  easy,  and  needs  practice, 
but  it  can  be  done.  If  identity  can  be  hidden,  as  it 
can  when  one  is  introduced  to  a  private  circle,  so  much 
the  better.  But  I  repeat  that  the  quest  is  not  suit- 
able for  everyone.    And  good  sensitives  are  rare. 

My  own  investigations  have  been  mostly  along 
these  lines,  but  mainly  in  the  "normal  clairvoyance" 
department,  there  being  a  good  medium  not  far  away 
whom  I  can  see  occasionally.  The  advantages  of  being 
unknown  are  here  absent,  but  my  friends  and  I  have 
established  the  fact  of  this  medium's  possession  of 
supernormal  powers  by  introducing  friends  from  dis- 
tant towns,  quite  unexpectedly  and  without  giving 
any  names.  Their  deceased  relatives  and  friends  have 
in  several  cases  been  named  and  described  as  fully 
and  as  correctly  as  my  own.  Also  it  is  a  common 
thing  for  very  intimate  family  matters  to  be  referred 
to  in  my  sittings;  matters  which  the  medium  could 
not  have  learnt  by  any  amount  of  outside  inquiry.  We 
were  sceptical  when  be  began  the  investigation,  ten 
years  ago;  we  are  now  fully  convinced,  all  of  us,  that 
the  explanation  must  be  supernormal,  and,  further, 
that  the  telepathic  hypothesis  seems  on  the  whole  much 
less  rational  than  the  spiritistic.     In  fact,  we  do  not 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  23 

stop  at  the  "hypothesis"  stage;  we  think  the  case  is 
proved,  so  far  as  proof  is  possible. 

Some  of  the  evidence,  obtained  mostly  in  my  friends' 
sittings,  has  already  appeared ;  ^  the  main  purpose  of 
the  present  volume  is  to  present  further  evidential 
incidents  occurring  in  my  own  sittings.  They  will  at 
least  indicate  the  kind  of  evidence  that  may  be  ex- 
pected by  anyone  beginning  the  investigation.  It  will 
be  observed  that  a  sitting  often  contains  a  number  of 
apparently  unconnected  statements,  the  relation  and 
significance  of  which  become  apparent  only  by  having 
a  series  of  sittings  and  carefully  collating  the  reports; 
hence  the  importance  of  contemporaneous  verbatim 
notes,  which  I  make  in  shorthand.  In  what  immedi- 
ately follows  I  have  sorted  out  a  few  main  strands, 
omitting  those  irrelevant  to  the  incidents  I  wish  to 
present.  The  names  are  disguised,  for  obvious  reasons ; 
but  I  trust  there  is  nothing  to  cause  pain,  even  if  this 
volume  is  read  by  some  relative  or  friend  who  recog- 
nises the  people  concerned.  These  latter  gave  me  the 
evidence — we  cannot  force  it — and  I  think  they  mean 
me  to  publish  it  in  order  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth. 


II 


INCIDENTS 

In  a  sitting  on  July  2 1st,  1914,  after  giving  various 
descriptions  of  deceased  friends  and  acquaintances, 
some  of  them  relatives,  the  medium  (Mr.  A.  Wilkin- 
son) remarked: 

^Neiu  Evidences  in  Psychical  Research.     (Rider,  London.) 


24  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

"7  get  the  name  Dunlop.  A  doctor.  Medical  doc- 
tor.    Old  times." 

This  was  mildly  interesting,  but  of  no  particular 
significance  so  far  as  I  could  see  at  the  moment.  A 
Dr.  Dunlop  formerly  lived  here  in  my  native  town, 
and  was  well  known  to  my  parents.  He  died  over 
forty  years  ago;  certainly  I  never  knew  him.  But 
his  house  was  known  as  Dunlop  House  until  about 
1900,  when  it  was  divided  into  cottages;  and  there 
is  a  faint  possibility  that  Mr.  Wilkinson  may  have 
heard  the  name,  though  he  lives  many  miles  away, 
and  I  think  it  extremely  unlikely.  The  house  was 
hidden  away  among  poor  property  remote  from  all 
high  roads  about  half  a  mile  from  my  home,  and  far- 
ther away  from  the  railway  station  than  this  latter. 

Later  in  the  same  sitting  the  medium  said : 

"/  get  the  name  heather.  I  feel  that  he  would  be 
an  old  man^  very  gentlemanly.,  rather  retiring.  I  hesi- 
tate to  say  the  name.,  for  I  never  heard  it  before  as  a 
name.    It  only  means  boots.,  leggings^  etc.,  to  me." 

Now  it  happens  that  I  knew  a  Mr.  Leather  very 
well  some  years  ago.  He  lived  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
from  my  home  (where  all  my  sittings  have  been  held), 
and  died  in  1909.  The  description  is  very  apt  as  far 
as  it  goes.  He  was  eighty-four  at  death;  was  rather 
retiring,  and  had  very  much  the  grand  seigneur  manner 
— a  true  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  I  visited  him 
occasionally,  between  1890  and  1899;  but  I  saw  most 
of  him  at  Dunlop  House  in  1893  to  1895,  where  lived 
a  friend  of  his  who  was  also  a  friend  of  mine.  A  small 
party  of  us  met  there  for  whist  nearly  every  Thursday 
evening  in  winter.  Of  that  party  all  are  dead  or  long 
since  removed  from  this  part  of  the  country,  except 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  25 

my  sister  and  myself.  Neither  of  us  has  ever  told  Mr. 
Wilkinson  anything  about  this,  and  I  feel  pretty  sure 
that  no  one  by  local  inquiry  could  find  any  connexion 
between  me  and  Mr.  Leather  by  way  of  Dunlop 
House.  It  is  true  that  no  definite  connexion  was  al- 
leged in  the  sitting,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  if  Mr.  Leather 
is  still  alive  and  wishful  to  prove  his  identity  by  al- 
luding to  shared  experiences  which  the  medium  could 
hardly  know  of,  he  could  not  do  better  than  mention 
Dunlop  House  or  Dr.  Dunlop. 

The  next  incident  occurred  a  few  months  later,  when 
I  received  (November  19th,  1914)  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Wilkinson,  who  happened  to  be  at  Bournemouth, 
whither  a  letter  of  mine,  asking  him  to  come  over,  had 
followed  him.  After  answering  this  and  describing  his 
joumeyings,  he  said: 

''By  the  way^  did  you  ever  know  someone  named 
Parrbury  or  some  such  name?  I  am^  impressed  it 
would  he  a  very  old  gentleman  you  might  have  known; 
however^  I  get  the  feeling  while  I  am  holding  your  let- 
ter. He  was  a  man  who  retained  his  faculties  in  a 
large  measure  till  the  end  of  life  almost,  I  am  not  sure 
hut  I  feel  perhaps  he  was  called  Rohert,  hut  of  that  I 
could  not  he  too  sure;  the  other  name^  however^  heing 
so  uncommon  that  I  thought  I  would  tell  it  to  you. 
He  evidently  is  keenly  interested  in  you."" 

On  reading  this  I  thought  it  was  meaningless.  But 
when  I  told  my  sister  about  it,  she  said  that  Robert 
Parrbury,  or  Parberry — spelling  uncertain — was  Mr. 
Leather's  Christian  name.  Then  I  remembered  that 
Robert  was  certainly  right,  but  the  other  name  was 
unfamiliar;  Mr.  Leather's  friends  never  used  it,  nor 
did  I  remember  ever  having  known  it,  though  I  may 


26  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

have  known  and  forgotten.  On  inquiry  I  found  that 
his  full  name  was  Robert  Parberry  Leather.  He  re- 
tained his  faculties  until  near  the  end,  as  stated;  re- 
maining, indeed,  particularly  young  and  alert  in  mind 
up  to  the  time  of  his  fatal  paralytic  seizure,  after  which 
he  died  in  a  few  hours,  never  regaining  consciousness. 

I  wrote  to  Mr.  Wilkinson  saying  that  the  name 
"Robert  Parrbury"  had  interesting  significance,  and 
that  I  should  like  him  to  come  over  for  a  sitting  as  soon 
as  possible.    I  gave  him  no  further  information. 

On  December  14th,  1914,  he  came  for  a  sitting,  and 
I  said  in  preliminary  conversation  that  the  Parrbury  of 
his  letter  had  meaning;  whereupon  he  remarked  that 
when  writing  the  letter  he  had  felt  that  the  gentleman 
in  question  was  waiting  for  some  old  friend  to  pass 
over.  This,  as  it  happens,  was  curiously  true.  At 
the  time  of  that  letter's  being  written,  Mr.  Leather's 
brother-in-law  and  most  intimate  friend  was  dying, 
not  far  from  Mr.  Leather's  old  home,  and  three  hun- 
dred miles  from  where  Mr.  Wilkinson  then  was.  Pre- 
sumably space  is  less  of  an  obstacle  to  those  "over 
there,"  and,  while  waiting  about  in  the  old  earth- 
regions  or  conditions  generally,  Mr.  Leather  could  give 
his  message  to  the  medium  at  Bournemouth  as  easily 
as  if  the  latter  had  been  here,  nearer  the  dying  friend. 
I  told  Mr.  Wilkinson,  in  reply  to  his  remark,  that  it 
was  quite  correct,  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Leather's  hav- 
ing died,  after  gradually  sinking  for  many  months^  on 
November  29th,  1914 — eleven  days  after  the  writing 
of  the  letter.  A  fairly  good  sitting  followed,  with  a 
considerable  amount  of  matter  about  various  deceased 
friends  and  relatives  of  mine  whom  I  am  sure  the 
medium  had  never  known;  but  there  was  no  sign  or 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  27 

mention  of  Mr.  Leather.  So  I  concluded  that,  the 
two  friends  having  been  reunited,  they  had  now  gone 
forward  together. 

This  incident  seemed  to  me  to  have  an  eminently 
pleasant  and  consoling  significance.  The  intimacy  of 
these  two  men  had  been  quite  exceptionally  close  and 
unbroken,  over  a  period  of  about  fifty  years.  They 
were,  as  I  have  said,  brothers-in-law  and  neighbours; 
alike  in  tastes  and  temperament;  both  became  widow- 
ers very  early  in  life,  and  they  spent  much  time  to- 
gether. I  am  quite  sure  that,  assuming  survival,  the 
person  whom  Mr.  Drayton  (the  second  to  die  of  the 
two  friends)  would  most  wish  to  meet  him  would  be 
his  old  chum,  Mr.  Leather. 

At  the  end  of  this  sitting  I  asked  the  medium  if 
he  had  ever  been  in  Knowlston  Cemetery.  (That  is 
where  the  bodies  of  the  two  men  are  buried.)  He 
replied  that  he  had  never  heard  the  name  before,  and 
had  never  been  in  any  cemetery  in  this  neighbourhood 
at  all.  Having  fully  satisfied  myself  of  Mr.  Wilkin- 
son's genuine  supernormal  faculty  through  earlier  evi- 
dence already  mentioned,  I  have  long  since  rejected  the 
idea  of  wilful  deception;  but  I  thought  it  just  possible 
that  he  might  have  been  in  that  particular  graveyard, 
and  might  have  seen  and  forgotten  the  names,  for  we 
must  assume  that  "forgotten"  things  are  still  sublimi- 
nally  remembered.  I  entirely  accept  his  statement  that 
he  has  never  been  there.  Moreover,  it  is  a  private  ceme- 
tery, belonging  to  a  Nonconformist  Chapel;  and  the 
grave  of  Mr.  Leather — about  whom  I  was  mainly  con- 
cerned because  of  the  medium's  getting  the  little- 
known  second  name — is  hidden  away  in  a  remote  part, 
far  from  the  path.    The  tombstone  inscription  cannot 


28  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

be  read  without  going  close  up  to  it,  threading  about 
among  many  other  graves. 

But  this  was  not  the  end  of  it.  At  my  next  sitting, 
on  January  15th,  1915,  after  evidential  statements 
about  someone  else,  the  medium  said: 

"There  is  a  man  by  that  bookcase''  (pointing),  "a 
very  old  man^  big^  full-featured.  Been  gone  some  time; 
old-fashioned  shirt,  white,  very  clean.  Elias  Sidney."" 
[Medium  took  pencil  and  paper  and  wrote  "Elias 
Sidney."]  ''Politics  interested  him;  rather  a  strong 
politician — Radical  or  strong  Liberal.  Been  dead  some 
time.  Somebody  brought  him,  somebody  on  the  other 
side,  who  has  manifested  here  before.  Not  lived  here. 
Good  colour  in  his  face.  There  is  somebody  behind 
him,  and  he  shadows  him.  Had  to  do  with  Liberals. 
Rather  heavy  on  his  feet.'' 

All  this  was  quite  meaningless  to  me.  I  had  never 
heard  of  any  Elias  Sidney.  Then  came  various  de- 
ceased relatives  and  acquaintances  of  mine,  one  of  them 
a  very  unexpected  person  whom  I  had  known  in  youth 
(he  died  about  1890)  but  had  not  thought  of  for  5^ears. 
His  name  was  given  as  Moses  Young ;  I  was  quite  with- 
out recollection  of  the  man's  Christian  name,  but  on 
inquiry  it  turned  out  to  be  Moses.    Then : 

''Sidney  appears  again.  Somebody  brought  him; 
some  spirit." 

Still  unrecognised.  Other  spirits  came,  and  inter- 
spersed in  their  descriptions  were  ejaculatory  sentences 
like :  "Sidney  cofnes  and  goes;  enthusiast  at  politics." 
"Sidney  got  excited  when  discussing  politics,"  and  the 
like.  Apparently  the  medium  received  these  impres- 
sions from  the  spirit  who  had  brought  Sidney,  and  who 
was  describing  his  mental  characteristics  for  the  pur- 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  29 

poses  of  identification  and  proof.  But  I  could  think  of 
no  Elias  Sidney  or  of  anyone  likely  to  bring  such 
a  man.  Finally  the  medium  said,  just  after  giving 
some  other  evidential  matter: 

"You  remember  me  seeing  an  old  man  here  before? 
I  can't  remember  his  nameT 

Noticing  that  he  seemed  excited  and  eager,  as  if 
something  important  were  coming,  I  said,  "Yes;  Mr. 
Leather  perhaps." 

"y^i,  heather.  It  is  Mr.  Leather  who  has  brought 
Elias  Sidney.  They  were  cronies.  [Medium  laughs.] 
They  were  cronies.  Sidney  has  been  passed  away 
longer  than  Mr.  Leather." 

Further  evidential  matter  was  given  about  other 
people,  but  no  more  about  Mr.  Sidney  or  Mr.  Leather. 
However,  the  last  statement  having  given  me  an  idea 
of  where  to  seek,  I  inquired  of  several  prominent  local 
Liberals  who  had  known  Mr.  Leather  as  to  whether 
they  had  ever  heard  of  a  man  named  Elias  Sidney. 
None  of  them  had;  and  I  began  to  think  the  medium 
was  quite  off  the  mark.  But  it  happened  that  one  of 
them  knew  an  old  gentleman  who  lives  a  few  miles 
away  and  who  has  had  a  very  extensive  acquaintance 
with  political  men,  and  to  him  he  addressed  the  same 
question.  "Certainly,"  was  the  immediate  reply;  "I 
knew  Elias  Sidney  very  well  indeed.  He  died  eight 
or  nine  years  ago,  but  had  long  been  retired  from  pub- 
lic life,  being  a  very  old  man.  He  was  one  of  a  coterie 
of  friends,  all  vigorous  Liberals.  I  was  one.  Mr. 
Leather  was  another.'' 

I  then  made  further  inquiries,  finding  that  Mr.  Sid- 
ney died  in  January,  1909,  seven  weeks  before  Mr. 
Leather's  death.     Mr.  Sidney's  age  was  eighty-three. 


30  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

I  found  and  interviewed  a  man  who  had  known  him 
— not  my  first  informant — and  it  turned  out  that  he 
was  a  keen  politician  on  the  Liberal  side,  and  very 
excitable  in  political  argument.  He  went  to  the  same 
club  as  Mr.  Leather,  daily,  as  long  as  health  allowed. 
The  description  of  his  personal  appearance  is  accurate. 
I  have  seen  a  photograph  of  him,  which  bears  out  my 
informant's  opinion. 

This  incident  does  not  seem  to  me  satisfactorily 
explainable  by  any  reading  of  my  mind,  either  in  its 
normal  conscious  levels  or  in  those  subliminal  levels 
where  forgotten  things  are  supposed  still  to  exist.  For 
I  asked  a  number  of  friends  who  had  been  in  closer 
touch  with  Mr.  Leather  and  with  local  politics  than 
I  have  been,  and  not  one  of  them  remembered  ever 
hearing  the  name  of  Elias  Sidney.  I  am  therefore 
sure  that  he  must  have  lived  a  very  retired  life  for  at 
least  twenty  years  before  his  death;  and,  indeed,  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  ever  been  a  prominent  man. 
(The  fact  that  many  of  Mr.  Leather's  friends  had 
never  heard  of  Mr.  Sidney  is  due  to  the  two  friends' 
meeting  at  the  club  and  not  visiting  at  each  other's 
homes,  which  were  several  miles  apart.) 

These  considerations,  I  think,  justify  the  provisional 
conclusion  that  neither  telepathy  from  my  mind  nor 
accidentally  possessed  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
medium — who  lives  in  another  town  twelve  miles  away 
— is  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  incident.  There 
remain  two  alternatives;  deliberate  concocting  of  evi- 
dence, necessitating  much  inquiry  and  travelling,  and 
the  spiritistic  theory  according  to  which  the  messages 
came  from  the  surviving  mind  of  Mr.  Leather,  or  Mr. 
Sidney,  or  both.    And  I  have  already  said  that  I  en- 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  31 

tirely  reject  the  idea  of  fraud;  not  only  because,  in 
ten  years'  acquaintance  with  Wilkinson,  my  friends 
and  I  have  found  nothing  at  variance  with  the  most 
complete  integrity  and  veracity,  but  also  because  his 
mediumship  has  given  us  a  large  mass  of  evidence 
which  no  amount  of  detective  work  could  obtain. 

I  have  ruled  out,  then,  normally  acquired  knowl- 
edge on  the  medium's  part,  telepathy  from  my  mind, 
and  fraud.  Telepathy  from  distant  living  people  un- 
known to  the  medium  I  regard  as  a  mere  guess  and 
a  rather  absurd  one.  There  remains  the  spiritistic  in- 
terpretation, and  this  I  provisionally  accept  as  the  most 
rational. 

Nothing  more  was  heard  of  Elias  Sidney,  but  at  a 
sitting  of  January  19th,  1916,  Mr.  Leather  again  pur- 
ported to  be  present,  this  time  bringing  his  friend, 
Mr.  Drayton,  whom  he  had  come  to  meet  when  the 
latter  was  dying  in  November,  1914.  The  following 
is  what  was  said.  It  occurs  among  evidential  matter 
relating  to  other  people.  I  abstract  it  from  my  ver- 
batim shorthand  notes : 

''Have  you  a  friend  called  Drayton?^'  [J.  A.  H. : 
"I  know  some  Dray  tons."]  .  .  .  ''There  is  a  very 
old  man — he  has  a  job  to  stand  up.  Tottering  with 
age.""  [On  first  coming  back  into  earth  conditions,  a 
spirit  frequently  shows  itself  in  the  bodily  state  which 
existed  just  before  its  departure;  partly  perhaps  for 
identification's  sake,  but  partly  no  doubt  spontane- 
ously, somewhat  as  we  tend  to  revert  to  the  manner 
and  speech  and  subjects  of  old  times  when  revisiting 
the  home  of  our  childhood.]  "There  are  two  old  7nen 
together.  Little^  bent  with  age^  white  front;  another 
little  old  man  with  him.    Brothers  or  friends.    Henry 


32  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

and  Robert.  Don't  know  whether  they  were  brothers 
or  not,  Henry  is  older  than  the  other.  They  knew 
each  other  very  well.  Robert's  face  is  smoother^  not  so 
lined.  They  are  chums — perhaps  brothers.  Robert 
pre-deceased  the  other.  I  don't  think  Henry  has  been 
long  gone.  Somebody  called  Whitley  is  connected 
with  Henry;  lives  a  long  way  from  here.  A  woman; 
not  well;  belongs  to  Henry.  She  is  called  Whitley. 
She  has  something  belonging  to  the  old  man.  He  liked 
his  own  way;  a  bit  dogmatic.  Robert  was  rather 
milder.  Henry  had  a  lot  of  his  own  way.  He  is  very 
much  surprised  about  things  now.  .  .  .  Robert  was  a 
bit  younger;  nice  old  fnan;  jolly.  They  had  lots  in 
common^  though  there  was  great  difference.  Perhaps 
difference  in  position.  They're  alike  now  in  that  re- 
spect." 

Mr.  Drayton's  name  was  Henry.  He  died  Novem- 
ber 29th,  1914,  aged  89.  Robert  P.  Leather  died  at 
84,  in  1909,  so  he  ''pre-deceased  the  other,"  and  was 
"a  bit  younger."  The  characterisation  of  both  is 
strikingly  correct.  The  hesitation  as  to  whether  they 
were  brothers  or  unrelated  friends  is  very  noteworthy, 
for,  as  already  said,  they  were  brothers-in-law  and 
great  friends.  Mr.  Drayton  has  a  living  daughter 
named  Whitley  (married  name),  and  I  afterwards 
heard  that  she  had  not  been  well.  She  lives  "a  long 
way  from  here"  a  good  part  of  the  year,  though  she 
is  often  at  a  house  about  twelve  miles  from  where  the 
medium  lives,  in  another  town.  I  have  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  knew  she  was  Mr.  Drayton's  daughter, 
even  if  he  knew  of  her  existence.  It  is  also  noteworthy 
that  of  several  daughters  she  is  the  only  one  connected 
with  our  family,  her  husband's  uncle  having  married 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  33 

my  great-aunt.  If  Mr.  Drayton  was  really  present  he 
would  naturally  think  of  her,  rather  than  of  his  other 
daughters,  in  connection  with  me. 

After  other  matter  the  following  came,  in  bits : 

''Henry  had  a  portrait  of  old  Mr,  Gladstone,,  the 
statesman.  I  think  he  must  have  had  one  in  his  house." 
[Probably.  He  was  a  vigorous  Glads tonian,  and  had 
been  M.P.  during  one  of  Gladstone's  Premierships.] 
''Robert  has  brought  him.  I  think  Henry  has  not 
manifested  here  before.  ...  7  saw  those  two  old  men 
so  clearly  that  I  could  recognise  their  portraits  if  I  saw 
them.  Shall  not  remember  them  long — shall  have  for- 
gotten them  to-morrow." 

The  next  connected  incident  occurred  on  August 
2nd,  1916.  At  this  sitting,  after  some  excellent  evi- 
dence concerning  distant  relatives  of  mine,  the  follow- 
ing was  said : 

"There  is  some  man  here  who  might  have  been  a 
schoolmaster;  there  is  something  over  his  shoulders  like 
a  gown.  A  scholar.  Middle-aged;  about  sixty ^  rather 
tall.  Did  you  ever  know  somebody  called  Waldron — 
W-A-L-D-R-0-N^  [Yes.]  Thomas  Waldron.  I 
think  it  is  Waldron.  Probably  this  man  had  been  a 
professor  or  schoolmaster.  He  has  a  lot  of  books  with 
him.  He  is  'well  up.'  A  classical  man^  good  at  Latin. 
He  is  just  by  that  bookcase.  He  has  been  deceased 
about  twelve  years,,  I  should  think;  probably  more. 
[All  that  is  very  good.]  This  man  was  very  fond  of 
boys — teaching  boys.  He  was  a  bit  Churchy.  I  should 
not  think  he  was  a  Dissenter — more  Churchy.  The  let- 
ters on  those  big  books  are  red  and  black.  I  can  see  they 
are  Latin.  He  has  a  big  book  with  H-0-M-E-R  on  it. 
Would  that  be  the  name  of  the  writer,,  perhaps?   [Very 


34  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

likely.]  Bzg  leather  binding.  ,  .  .  The  man  would  he 
about  sixty  when  he  died^  and  he  was  not  ill  long.  .  .  . 
This  man  has  been  gone  longer  than  I  said.  He  is  tell- 
ing me  something.  How  long  did  I  say?  [Twelve 
years.]     //  is  longer  than  that.'' 

The  facts  are  that  Mr.  Thomas  Waldron  was  head- 
master of  the  school  I  was  at  from  1878  to  1886.  He 
was  a  classical  man,  good  at  Latin,  which  was  his 
pet  subject.  He  wore  a  gown  in  school.  He  was  a 
Churchman,  and  two  years  before  his  death  he  took 
Orders.  He  died  of  cerebral  haemorrhage,  without  be- 
ing ill  at  all,  in  1898,  aged  between  fifty-nine  and 
sixty.  As  a  schoolboy  I  was  keenly  interested  in  the 
Iliad^  and  probably  he  knew  that;  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  he  himself  read  Homer  much. 

Later  in  the  sitting  Wilkinson  said : 

''You  remember  me  speaking  about  Thomas  Wal- 
dron? There  is  some  woman  connected  with  this  man: 
She  is  in  the  body,  about  seventy  years  of  age.  You 
may  hear  of  her  soon.  Some  circumstances  linked  up 
with  this  man.'' 

His  widow,  who  left  this  district  three  years  after 
his  death,  is  still  living,  in  a  town  about  forty  miles 
away.  No  relatives  remain  about  here.  The  medium 
continued : 

''You  remember  me  seeing  an  old  man  here  a  time 
or  two?  A  man  with  a  funny  name.  [Leather,  per- 
haps?] That's  it.  He  is  here.  He  has  a  lady  with 
him:  very  young,  beside  hifn.  Quite  youthful.  I  know 
the  man's  face  well;  I  have  seen  him  before.  The 
lady  is  about  your  age.  [To  my  sister.]  They  are  to- 
gether. Her  name  was  Sarah.  She  might  be  some 
relation  to  the  man." 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  35 

Mr.  Leather's  wife  was  named  Sarah.  She  died  in 
1866,  aged  thirty-eight.  I  did  not  know  the  name 
until  I  had  the  tombstone  examined.  It  is  in  an  almost 
inaccessible  part  of  a  private  cemetery,  as  already  said. 

With  regard  to  Mr.  Waldron,  it  is  noteworthy  that 
he  was  one  of  the  small  party  that  met  every  Thursday 
evening  at  Dunlop  House,  twenty  or  more  years  ago. 
He  and  Mr.  Leather  were  close  friends. 

That  is  the  end,  up  to  the  present,  of  this  particular 
series  of  incidents.  I  have  no  further  comment  to 
make  except  to  draw  attention  to  one  curious  feature. 
In  the  sitting  of  July  21st,  1914,  the  name  Leather 
was  given,  without  Christian  names.  In  the  impres- 
sions communicated  to  me  by  letter  in  the  following 
November,  the  names  Parrbury  and  a  doubtful  Robert 
were  given,  but  nothing  else;  and  I  afterwards  ascer- 
tained that  Mr.  Wilkinson  thought  it  was  a  Robert 
Parrbury,  arid  did  not  associate  the  names  with  Mr. 
Leather.  Finally,  in  the  sitting  of  January  19th, 
1916,  the  name  Robert  was  used  throughout,  with  no 
use  of  Parberry  or  Leather;  and  I  found  that  the  me- 
dium did  not  associate  the  Robert  of  this  sitting  with 
the  Mr.  Leather  of  previous  ones  or  with  the  Parrbury 
of  his  Bournemouth  impressions.  It  would  seem  that 
Mr.  Leather  purposely  gave  different  parts  of  his 
name  on  the  different  occasions,  in  order  to  keep  the 
medium  in  the  dark  and  to  improve  the  evidence, 
knowing  that  I  should  piece  them  together  and  rec- 
ognise the  same  person  behind  the  communications,  al- 
though the  medium  was  thinking  that  several  different 
people  were  concerned. 

In  all  such  incidents  as  these,  the  thing  first  to  be 
settled  is  the  extent  of  the  medium's  normal  knowl- 


36  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

edge.  Before  proceeding  to  any  supernormal  hypothe- 
ses, even  of  telepathy,  we  must  be  driven  to  admit  that 
normal  knowledge  cannot  reasonably  be  suggested  as 
a  sufficient  explanation.  Now  I  cannot  pass  on  to  an- 
other person  my  own  certitude  or  my  own  state  of 
mind  regarding  the  extent  of  Mr.  Wilkinson's  normal 
knowledge.  My  opinion  is  the  result  of  multitudi- 
nous small  factors — inferences  as  to  his  general  mode 
of  life,  the  people  he  meets,  where  he  goes,  what  he 
reads,  and  the  like — and  I  cannot  produce  them  all 
here.  The  mere  statement  of  my  opinion  must  there- 
fore suffice,  and  readers  will  accept  it  or  not,  according 
as  they  think  well  or  ill  of  my  general  reliability.  My 
opinion,  then,  is: 

1.  That  Wilkinson  had  no  conscious  knowledge  of 
Mr.  Drayton,  Mr.  Leather,  Mr.  Waldron,  or  Mr. 
Sidney. 

2.  That  he  may  have  heard  of,  or  read  of,  Mr. 
Drayton,  whose  name  would  appear  in  subscription 
lists  to  charities,  etc.,  but  that,  if  so,  the  knowledge 
will  have  been  forgotten,  for  Mr.  Drayton's  activities 
and  tastes  would  have  no  special  interest  for  Wilkin- 
son. Moreover,  Mr.  Drayton  had  been  confined  to  his 
house  for  many  years  by  the  infirmities  of  age,  and 
he  had  been  out  of  public  life  for  twenty-five  years. 
I  think  it  extremely  unlikely — not  quite  incredible,  but 
extremely  unlikely- — that  Wilkinson  knows,  even  sub- 
liminally,  as  much  about  Mr.  Drayton  as  the  sittings 
produced. 

3.  That  Wilkinson  is  still  less  likely  to  have  heard 
even  the  names  of  Mr.  Leather  and  Mr.  Waldron,  or 
to  have  known  anything  about  them.  I  do  not  believe 
that  he  had  ever  heard  of  Elias  Sidney,  or  of  Dunlop 


METHODS  AND  EXAMPLES  37 

House,  or  Dr.  Dunlop;  and,  even  if  he  had,  I  should 
not  be  able  to  believe  that  he  could  have  known  of  the 
significance  of  Dunlop  House  to  Mr.  Leather,  Mr. 
Waldron,  and  myself,  or  that  he  could  have  had  any 
notion  of  the  club  friendship  and  personal  character- 
istics of  Mr.  Leather  and  Mr.  Sidney.  In  short,  basing 
my  opinion  on  careful  consideration  of  many  data, 
I  unhesitatingly  reject  the  suggestion  that  the  medi- 
um's normally  acquired  knowledge,  supraliminal  or 
subliminal,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  facts  of  the 
sittings.  To  me,  the  only  satisfactory  explanation  is 
the  spiritistic  one.  I  believe  that  Mr.  Leather  has 
been  supervising  from  the  other  side,  bringing  various 
kinds  of  evidence  of  his  survival  and  continued  inter- 
est; and  in  particular  the  Elias  Sidney  episode  seems  to 
me  a  strikingly  ingenious  and  successful  attempt  to  get 
round  the  "telepathic  hypothesis,"  which  some  inves- 
tigators, without  much  basis  of  fact,  are  apt  to  apply 
to  all  incidents  in  which  the  sitter  is  in  possession  of 
the  knowledge  shown. 

Finally,  I  may  remark  that  Mr.  Leather  in  life  took 
a  very  kindly  and  rather  special  interest  in  me,  and 
after  my  schooldays  I  saw  more  of  him  than  of  ^Mr. 
Waldron.  With  Mr.  Drayton  my  personal  acquain- 
tance was  slight.  1{  he  had  been  represented  as  ap- 
pearing first  and  bringing  Mr.  Leather,  or  if  he  had 
been  represented  as  bringing  Mr.  Waldron,  it  would 
have  been  all  wrong.  As  it  was,  everything  was  ex- 
actly in  keeping  with  the  actual  degree  of  my  acquain- 
tance with  the  three  men,  and  in  keeping  with  their 
own  inter-relations. 


CHAPTER  III 

FURTHER    "meeting"    CASES 

There  seems  very  good  reason  to  believe  that  all  dy- 
ing people  are  met  and  helped  over  by  friends  or  rela- 
tives on  the  other  side,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Leather 
and  Mr.  Drayton  just  described.  The  following  inci- 
dents support  the  idea,  though  they  are  less  exten- 
sive in  their  details. 

In  a  sitting  on  December  14th,  1914,  Wilkinson 
suddenly  said,  amid  other  matter: 

"Have  you  known  somebody  called  Walker?  .  .  . 
At  some  time  or  other  you  had  acquaintances  called 
Walkerr 

He  seemed,  however,  uncertain  about  the  last  sylla- 
ble, so  in  order  to  help  I  suggested  that  it  might  be 
Walkley.  He  agreed,  saying  that  he  had  never  heard 
the  name  before,  but  had  known  some  Walkers.  This 
"helping"  on  my  part  may  be  seized  on  by  sceptics, 
and  indeed  it  is  unwise  to  do  much  of  it,  for  if  we  give 
away  information  we  are  spoiling  our  chances  of  get- 
ting evidence.  But  it  sometimes  happens,  particularly 
if  the  medium  is  half  right  and  apparently  rather  puz- 
zled, that  a  little  guidance  leads  to  a  further  rush  of 
evidential  matter,  without  much  real  information  hav- 
ing been  conveyed;  and  so  long  as  everything  "given 
away"  is  carefully  noted  down,  there  is  no  danger 

38 


FURTHER  "MEETING"  CASES  39 

of  the  guidance  vitiating  the  evidence,  for  we  can 
make  our  own  estimate  of  the  amount  to  be  allowed 
as  discount,  so  to  speak,  or  any  true  matter  that  may 
follow.  In  this  case,  however,  my  hint  seemed  use- 
less. Nothing  further  came,  though  I  expected  some- 
thing; for  I  had  known  some  Walkleys  very  well  be- 
tween 1883  ^^^  1900,  and  I  immediately  thought  of 
them  when  the  medium  said  "Walker." 

The  next  relevant  incident  occurred  ten  months 
later.  In  a  letter  dated  "Bournemouth,  October  1st, 
1915,"  Wilkinson  said: 

"Just  when  closing  this  epistle  I  felt  as  if  some  old 
man  touched  me^  rather  a  gentleman^  and  he  made  me 
feel  a  hit  like  a  parson.  I  cannot  get  any  communica- 
tion from  him  beyond  'A.  S.  W.,'  whatever  that  means; 
an  impression  I  get  is  that  you  might  have  known  this 
man  some  years  ago.''' 

The  facts  are  that  Mr.  Walkley  was  a  minister,  that 
he  was  certainly  a  gentleman  (more  markedly  so  than 
the  average  village  Nonconformist  minister  of  those 
days),  and  that  his  full  initials  were  A.  S.  W.  I  told 
the  medium  nothing  except  that  what  he  had  written 
was  correct  for  someone  I  had  known. 

At  my  next  sitting  there  was  no  mention  of  the 
Walkleys,  but  at  a  later  one,  on  February  17th,  1916, 
the  medium  said,  after  other  evidential  matter : 

''You  may  hear  of  a  funeral  of  somebody  soon:  I 
see  a  funeral  party.  A  woman  who  will  die  soon:  it  is 
nearly  up  to  you.  Somebody  old.  There  is  a  man 
here  with  a  round  soft  hat,  a  felt  hat,  like  a  parson's: 
grey:  been  a  parson.  He  is  about  here  waiting  for 
somebody.  .  .  .  That  old  woman  will  die  soon. 
[Here  I  remarked:    "She  is  dead  already."]    Indeed? 


40  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

//  is  somebody  very  old  and  feeble — over  eighty;  been 
going  gradually." 

Our  friends  the  Walkleys  left  this  district  in  August, 
1900.  Mr.  Walkley,  minister  at  the  chapel  I  attended 
during  his  seventeen  years'  pastorate,  died  three  months 
later  (November  16th).  He  usually  wore  a  clerical 
round  soft  felt  hat,  though  occasionally  a  tall  silk  one ; 
and  he  had  grey  hair  and  beard.  His  widow  after- 
wards lived  mostly  in  London,  but  was  sometimes  in 
these  parts  (West  Riding  of  Yorkshire),  staying  with 
relatives.  Two  days  before  this  sitting — i.e.  on  Feb- 
ruary 15th — she  had  died  there,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two,  after  sinking  gradually.  The  funeral  was  fixed 
for  the  18th — i.e.  the  day  after  the  sitting.  Appar- 
ently her  husband  had  come  to  meet  her,  and  was  still 
in  these  regions  although  she  was  now  dead ;  the  reason 
no  doubt  being  that  the  "departed"  spirit  often  does 
not  depart  at  once  to  supernal  realms,  but  lingers  about 
with  those  it  loves,  or  is  perhaps  occupied  for  some 
little  time  in  withdrawing  from  its  old  associations  be- 
fore setting  its  face  to  further  progress  in  the  larger 
life. 

As  to  the  possibility  of  the  medium's  possessing  nor- 
mal knowledge  of  her  death  or  her  connexion  with  us, 
or  indeed  of  her  existence,  I  think  it  is  in  the  last 
degree  unlikely.  She  was  known  to  very  few  people; 
her  relatives  are  in  no  way  prominent,  and  she  died  at 
a  place  about  ten  miles  from  Wilkinson's  home,  in  an- 
other town.  She  had  no  friends  in  his  neighbourhood, 
and  I  think  it  practically  certain  that  he  knows  no 
one  who  knew  her  or  her  people,  except  myself;  and  I 
had  certainly  never  told  him  anything  about  either 
her  or  them. 


FURTHER  "MEETING"  CASES  41 

In  this  same  sitting  of  February  17th,  1916,  after 
some  very  evidential  things  relating  to  my  father,  the 
medium  said : 

''This  big  man  with  the  full  face  [my  father]  must 
have  known  a  man  named  Charlton^  a  younger  man. 
This  man  is  just  waking  up.  He  didn't  quite  believe 
he  was  dead.  I  feel  that  he  would  be  an  impulsive 
man.  Tie  would  swear  when  things  went  wrong.  Hot- 
headed. Middle  life.  A  proud  man.  He  has  been 
wandering  about  a  while.    Been  gone  some  time. 

''His  influence  is  very  authoritative.  Almost  an  ar- 
rogant man  in  some  ways.  There's  somebody  in  the 
body  that  he  wants  to  approach — a  woman.  His  object 
is  to  reach  her. 

"He  had  money.  He  has  not  manifested  here  be- 
fore. He  was  one  who  would  rush  through  fire  and 
water  to  get  at  what  he  wanted.  [After  interluded 
matter  relating  to  other  people,  he  continued:]  That 
Charlton's  influence  won't  leave  me.  He  knew  some- 
body called  William.  It  is  a  bit  fragmentary.,  but  they 
did  not  just  agree  about  something.  There  is  a  diver- 
gence of  opinion.  Whether  it  is  religion.,  I  don't  know. 
He  has  a  big  thick  stick.,  not  a  walking-stick — it  is  too 
thick.  He  has  a  very  light-coloured  suit  on — kind 
of  sporting  outfit.  He  is  a  new  influence;  not  mani- 
fested here  before.     Very  impulsive." 

All  this  is  very  true  and  characteristic  of  a  Mr. 
Charlton  whom  I  knew  slightly,  except  as  regards  the 
stick;  I  think  he  fished,  and  it  may  be  a  jointed  rod, 
but  I  am  not  sure.  All  the  other  details  are  exactly 
true.  He  was  better  known  to  a  relative  of  mine  named 
William  than  to  me,  and  they  were  of  different  opin- 
ions in  religion  and  politics,  though  my  relative  tells 


42  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

me  that  they  never  discussed  either,  and  that  he  liked 
Mr.  Charlton  and  got  on  excellently  with  him,  in  chats 
in  tram  or  train  mostly.  But  they  lived  not  far  away 
from  each  other,  and  were  aware  enough  of  each  oth- 
er's views  in  a  general  way. 

It  is  curious  that  Mr.  Charlton  was  said  to  be  only 
just  waking  up  (from  the  recuperative  sleep  which 
seems  to  follow  death),  for  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 
The  post-mortem  sleep  or  rest  is  usually  an  affair  of 
months  or  even  of  days  or  hours;  rarely  of  years, 
though  it  is  occasionally  so — e.g.  in  some  of  the  Piper 
cases.  The  remark  that  he  "didn't  quite  believe  he 
was  dead"  is  noteworthy.  It  is  often  said  that  when 
people  wake  up  on  the  other  side  they  can  hardly  be- 
lieve that  they  have  died,  their  surroundings  seem  so 
natural  and  they  feel  so  well;  but  in  Mr.  Charlton's 
case  there  is  a  special  significance.  He  died  of  a  much- 
dreaded  disease,  the  nature  of  which  is  often  kept  from 
the  patient's  knowledge,  and  in  which  anodynes  are 
mercifully  used  towards  the  end.  It  is  quite  likely 
that  in  such  cases  the  sufferer  does  not  realise  that 
he  is  dying;  and  afterwards,  having  made  the  crossing 
so  easily  and  so  unconsciously,  he  may  indeed  "hardly 
believe  that  he  is  dead."  The  naturalness  of  the  proxi- 
mate post-mortem  life  is  often  emphasised  by  Sweden- 
borg:  "The  first  state  of  man  after  death  is  like  his 
state  in  the  world,  because  his  life  is  still  external. 
He  has  therefore  a  similar  face,  speech,  and  disposition, 
thus  a  similar  moral  and  civil  life;  so  that  he  thinks 
that  he  is  still  in  the  world,  unless  he  pays  close  at- 
tention to  the  experiences  he  meets  with,  or  remembers 
what  was  said  to  him  by  the  angels  when  he  was  raised 
up.     Thus  life  remains  the  same  in  the  other  world 


FURTHER  "MEETING"  CASES  43 


as  in  this,  and  death  is  only  the  transition  from  one  to 
the  other."  (Heaven  and  Hell,  §  493,  p.  266,  "Every- 
man" edition.) 

I  have  quoted  this  as  a  "meeting"  case,  with  less 
justification  than  in  the  preceding  ones.  But  the  sur- 
mise is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Charlton's 
brother  was  dying  at  the  time  of  the  sitting,  though 
I  did  not  know  it.  He  died  on  March  6th.  I  did  not 
know  him,  even  by  sight,  and  I  did  not  know  of  his 
illness  until  I  saw  his  death  announced  in  the  news- 
papers. It  seems  likely  that  Mr.  Charlton  had  come 
to  meet  his  brother,  as  Mr.  Leather  came  to  meet  Mr. 
Drayton,  and  as  Mr.  Walkley  came  to  meet  his  widow. 

And  we  must  remember  that  this  "meeting"  idea 
is  not  by  any  means  based  solely  on  mediumistic  com- 
munications. There  is  a  very  considerable  body  of 
evidence  of  another  kind.  Dying  people  often  see  spirit 
friends  who  have  come  to  meet  them.  The  sceptic 
will,  of  course,  say  that  hallucinations  are  comm^on 
enough  in  illness,  and  that  a  dying  person's  statements 
are  not  evidence  of  the  objectivity,  in  any  sense,  of 
what  he  sees.  But  wait  a  moment !  The  matter  is  not 
to  be  settled  as  easily  as  that.  If  a  man,  who  has  never 
had  an  hallucination  in  his  life  and  whose  mind  in  all 
other  respects  seems  quite  clear,  informs  us  quietly 
when  dying  that  he  sees  his  father  and  sister — which 
latter  died  when  a  child,  forty  years  before,  and  has 
consequently  been  hardly  ever  in  his  thoughts — it  is 
mere  unscientific  dogmatism  to  say  that  this  is  sub- 
jective hallucination.  How  do  you  know  it  is*?  It 
may  he^  of  course ;  but  there  is  no  basis  for  an  assertion 
that  it  is.  The  man  has  never  had  such  a  vision  before. 
.    Why  does  he  have  one  now  ^    Effects  must  have  causes. 


44  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

And  if  the  materialist  ventures  to  say  that  the  cause  is 
a  hypothetical  and  hypothetically  adequate  physio- 
logical change,  we  must  ask  him  to  be  much  more  defi- 
nite than  that.  He  must  prove  his  point.  We  cannot 
accept  it  on  faith.  Moreover,  there  is  a  recognisable 
difference  in  kind  between  psychical  and  visceral  hal- 
lucinations. In  great  weakness  and  with  a  tempera- 
ture of  104.5°,  I  have  had  incipient  hallucinations  my- 
self, which  I  noted  down  as  soon  as  I  could  hold  a 
pencil,*  and  they  never  took  the  shape  of  my  deceased 
relatives.    They  were  merely  grotesque  and  dream-like. 

But  the  argument  can  be  carried  further.  Admit- 
ting that  a  dying  person  is  likely  to  think  about  those 
who  have  gone  before,  and  that  this  thinking  may 
initiate  hallucination,  we  will  grant  that  experiences  of 
this  type  must  not  be  considered  strictly  evidential. 
But  there  is  one  kind  of  deathbed  vision  that  is; 
namely,  when  the  dying  person  sees  a  vision  of  some- 
one whom  he  does  not  know  to  he  dead.  Such  cases 
are,  inevitably,  rare.  Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe  made 
a  collection  of  them  in  her  Feak  in  Darien  volume,  and 
there  are  several  in  the  publications  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research.  The  following  may  be  given  as 
brief  resumes. 

Mrs.  Y.,  wife  of  Colonel  Y.,  when  dying,  told  her 
husband  that  several  times  during  the  day  she  had 
heard  voices  singing,  and  that  she  thought  it  was  the 
angels  welcoming  her  to  heaven;  but  "it  is  strange, 
there  is  one  voice  amongst  them  I  am  sure  I  know, 
and  cannot  remember  whose  voice  it  is."     Suddenly 

^Journal,  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  vol.  xvi.,  p.  235  and 
following.  In  Proceedings,  vol.  xix.,  p.  267,  Mr.  Piddington  analyses 
a  number  of  hallucinations  of  visceral  type,  comparing  them  with 
the  psychical. 


FURTHER  "MEETING"  CASES  45 

she  stopped,  and,  pointing  over  her  husband's  head, 
said:  "Why,  there  she  is,  in  the  comer  of  the  room; 
it  is  Julia  X.;  she  is  coming  on;  she  is  leaning  over 
you;  she  has  her  hands  up;  she  is  praying — do  look; 
she  is  going."  Colonel  Y.  looked  but  could  see  noth- 
ing, and  thought  it  was  only  the  imagination  of  a  sick 
person;  though,  indeed,  Mrs.  Y.  in  all  other  respects 
was  in  full  possession  of  all  her  faculties.  Two  days 
afterwards  Colonel  Y.  heard  that  Julia  X. — a  young 
woman  with  a  beautiful  singing  voice  whom  they  had 
known  some  years  before — had  died  about  a  week  be- 
fore Mrs.  Y.  It  is  certain  that  the  latter  had  no  nor- 
mal knowledge  of  that  fact.^ 

Another  excellent  case  is  recorded  by  Dr.  Minot  J. 
Savage  in  his  Psychic  Facts  and  Theories,  Two  little 
girls,  schoolmates  and  intimate  friends,  aged  about 
eight,  fell  ill  of  diphtheria.  At  noon  on  a  Wednesday 
Jennie  died ;  but  the  doctor  and  parents  of  Edith  were 
careful  to  keep  from  her  the  knowledge  that  her  play- 
mate was  gone,  fearing  the  effect  on  her  of  such  a 
shock.  That  they  were  successful  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  on  the  following  Saturday,  just  before  Edith 
became  unconscious,  she  selected  two  of  her  photo- 
graphs to  be  sent  to  Jennie.  On  the  evening  of  that 
same  day,  at  half-past  six,  Edith  died.  She  became 
conscious  just  before,  talked  about  dying,  and  showed 
no  fear.  Then  she  appeared  to  see  one  and  another 
of  the  friends  she  knew  were  dead.  But  suddenly,  and 
with  every  appearance  of  surprise,  she  exclaimed: 
"Why,  papa,  I  am  going  to  take  Jennie  with  me.  .  .  . 
You  did  not  tell  me  Jennie  was  here."    And  she  reached 

^Proceedings,  vol.  iii.,  p.  92.    Human  Personality,  vol.  ii.,  p.  339. 


46  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

out  her  arms  as  in  welcome,  saying:  ''O  Jennie,  I'm 
so  glad  you  are  here." 

We  are  not  given  the  firsthand  accounts  of  the 
parents  in  this  case,  and  consequently  the  evidence  is 
less  strong;  but  Dr.  Savage  vt^as  an  experienced  in- 
vestigator, and  he  knew  the  people  concerned.  They 
wished  their  names  to  be  withheld  from  the  public, 
but  full  information  in  proof  of  bona  fides  was  given 
to  Dr.  Hyslop,  the  Secretary  of  the  American  S.P.R.^ 

In  what  has  just  been  said  we  have  been  dealing, 
on  the  one  hand,  with  mediumistic  communications  in 
which  a  spirit  was  said  to  be  waiting  about  for  a  dying 
friend,  and,  on  the  other,  with  the  dying  person's  vision 
of  the  spirit  who  is  waiting.  It  would  be  exceedingly 
interesting  if  we  could  get  these  two  kinds  of  evidence 
in  combination;  for  example,  if  I  could  learn  that  Mr. 
Drayton,  during  the  last  week  or  two  of  his  life,  saw 
his  friend  Mr.  Leather  and  realised  that  he  had  come 
to  meet  him.  This  would  have  corroborated  my 
mediumistic  messages.  But  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  such  corroboration  will  often  be  obtainable,  for 
any  such  experiences  of  dying  people  are  not  talked 
about  by  surviving  relatives  except  to  intimate  friends. 
However,  there  is  one  case,  not  precisely  of  the  kind 
required — for  the  dying  person  knew  that  the  welcom- 
ing spirit  was  ''dead" — but  possessing  such  important 
evidential  features  of  a  similar  kind,  reported  by  the 
experienced  and  critical  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson,  that  it 
may  suitably  be  quoted  here. 

Some  hours  after  the  death  of  a  man  named  F., 
Dr.  Hodgson  had  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Piper.  A  Mme. 
Elisa  (known  in  life  to  Dr.  Hodgson)  communicated, 

^Journal,  American  S.P.R.,  July,  1907,  p.  50  and  following. 


FURTHER  'MEETING'  CASES  47 

saying  that  F.  (whom  she  had  known)  was  there  with 
her,  and  that  she  had  met  and  helped  him  as  he  was 
dying.  She  repeated  what  she  said  to  him,  "an  un- 
usual form  of  expression"  (says  Dr.  Hodgson),  and 
indicated  that  he  had  heard  and  recognised  her.  Later, 
Dr.  Hodgson  learnt  that  F.,  when  dying,  had  said  that 
he  saw  Mme.  Elisa,  who  was  speaking  to  him.  He 
repeated  to  his  nearest  surviving  relative,  who  was  with 
him,  what  Mme.  Elisa  was  saying;  and  the  expression 
so  repeated  was  the  same  as  the  one  that  Dr.  Hodgson 
had  received  from  Mme.  Elisa  through  Mrs.  Piper.* 

It  is  desirable,  as  such  narratives  indicate,  that 
more  serious  notice  should  be  taken  of  anything  that 
a  dying  person  may  say  than  has  hitherto  been  the 
rule;  particularly  when  there  has  been  no  sign  of 
any  impairment  of  mental  faculty.  To  many  good 
people  there  is  no  doubt  something  of  irreverence  in 
this,  and  the  idea  is  repellent.  But  though  this  is 
natural,  it  is  seen  on  reflection  to  be  a  mistaken  idea. 
Death  is  admittedly  a  solemn  event,  but  so  is  birth — 
which  is  a  time  of  rejoicing;  and  so  is  every  change 
in  life;  even  a  removal  from  one  house  to  another; 
still  more  the  emigration  of  a  relative  to  the  Colonies. 
There  is  an  irrevocable  break  with  the  past,  and  a 
separation.  All  such  events  are  to  be  treated  seriously ; 
but  there  is  no  irreverence  in  trying  to  understand 
them  to  the  full,  and  in  noting  down  all  circumstances 
for  later  consideration,  particularly  if  it  is  recognised 
that  such  observation  and  record  may  furnish  data 
which  will  strongly  support  the  highest  religious  con- 
ceptions, rendering  the  old  hopeless  materialism  entirely 
unscientific  and  irrational.    We  may  be  very  sure  that 

^  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  378. 


48  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  departed  one — who  has  not  really  departed  except 
from  the  field  of  our  limited  sense-perceptions — will  be 
glad  if  in  even  his  last  helpless  moments  he  has  still 
succeeded  in  being  useful;  and  if  he  has  said  some- 
thing potentially  evidential  but  which  his  friends 
neglected  to  note,  from  mistaken  ideas  of  "reverence," 
it  will  be  for  their  negligence,  which  is  an  irreverence 
done  to  Truth,  that  he  may  blame  them. 

On  this  point  of  regarding  the  end  of  our  present 
phase  with  a  more  depressed  solemnity  than  is  neces- 
sary, we  may  well  remember  the  curious  and  indeed 
startling  words  of  Sir  Thomas  More : 

"They"  (the  Utopians)  "think  that  .  .  .  nothing 
can  be  more  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  the  dead" 
than  "the  rehearsing  of  his  virtuous  manners  and  his 
good  deeds."  .  .  .  "But  no  part  of  his  life  is  so  oft 
or  gladly  talked  of  as  his  merry  death." 

And  Sir  Thomas  met  his  own  death,  as  history  tells, 
entirely  in  that  spirit;  not  with  any  bravado  or  forced 
gaiety,  but  with  a  genuine  cheerfulness  and  mirth,  not 
only  when  he  joked  on  the  scaffold,  but  also  before, 
when  he  watched  the  equal  jollity  of  Latimer  in  the 
courtyard.^ 

But  if  this  is  above  the  power  of  most  of  us,  we  can 
still  attain  to  the  similar  if  milder  view  of  our  own 
Tennyson,  whose  wisdom  sings : 

I  hate  the  black  negation  of  the  bier, 
And  wish  the  dead,  as  happier  than  ourselves 
And  higher,  having  dimb'd  one  step  beyond 
Our  village  miseries,  might  be  borne  in  white 
To  burial  or  to  burning,  hymn'd  from  hence 
With  songs  in  praise  of  death,  and  crown'd  with  flowers. 

— The  Ancient  Sage. 
*  Green's  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  pp.  344,  345. 


FURTHER  "MEETING"  CASES  49 

On  this  subject  of  reverence  in  regard  to  the  whole 
question,  I  have  noticed  that  those  who  come  fresh 
to  the  subject  are  sometimes  slightly  shocked  by  the 
matter-of-fact  and  everyday  tone  in  which  we  speak 
of  the  other  side  and  those  who  are  there.  It  has  been 
customary  to  regard  spirits  and  the  idea  of  them  with 
awe  and  fear,  instead  of  with  friendliness  and  love ;  ^ 
and  to  talk  of  them  familiarly  seems  almost  flippant. 
I  have  heard  people  say,  "I  hope  I  shall  never  see 
anything,"  "I  should  be  frightened  if  my  mother  com- 
municated," and  the  like.  "Frightened"  of  one's 
mother!  What  must  that  mother's  feelings  be  when 
she  sees  her  child  turn  away  from  the  thought  of  her, 
in  fear?  Must  it  not  cause  her  pain,  so  far  as  pain 
is  experienced  there*?  Even  indifference  and  the 
thought  of  them  as  "dead"  must  be  unpleasant  to 
them;  so,  also,  is  excessive  grief. 

There  is  nothing  reverent  or  praiseworthy  in  such 
attitudes.  Is  it  not  more  sensible,  now  that  we  have 
definite  scientific  assurance  of  their  continued  life,  to 
think  of  them  often,  cheerfully,  and  with  loving 
thoughts,  which,  they  assure  us,  greatly  help  them  in 
their  progress,  as  we  are  helped  by  love  while  here? 
Thinking  of  them  thus,  as  alive  and  human  still, 
though  with  "spiritual"  bodies  (1  Cor.  xv.,  verse  44), 
instead  of  fleshly  ones,  we  commit  no  irreverence. 
Reverence  is  due  to  noble  character,  both  in  and  out 
of  the  body;  but  the  mere  fact  of  a  man's  being  dead 
does  not  call  for  any  fundamental  change  in  our  feel- 
ings about  him.  He  is  still  a  human  being;  he  has 
progressed  one  stage  beyond  our  village  miseries,  and 

*  Cf.  Lanoe  Falconer's  fine  book,  Cecilia  de  Noel,  for  an  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  right  attitude. 


so  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

is  therefore  to  be  congratulated  and  mildly  envied ;  but 
the  amount  of  our  reverence  is  to  be  decided  by  our 
idea  of  his  spiritual  excellence,  not  by  the  fact  that  he 
is  dead. 

There  are  many  grades  of  progress  on  all  the  planes, 
and  there  are  men  alive  now  who  are  more  worthy  of 
reverence  than  many  who  are  dead;  though  death, 
•no  doubt,  is  "promotion"  for  everybody — in  propor- 
tion as  we  have  tried  to  walk  in  accordance  with  what 
light  we  had — and  a  great  and  holy  and  loving  man 
here  will  be  a  greater  and  holier  and  more  loving  man 
there,  for  he  will  have  more  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
his  faculties,  after  dropping  the  fleshly  vesture  "which 
doth  so  grossly  close  us  in."  But  we  reverenced  him 
while  here  also.  All  is  continuity  and  gradation;  the 
gulf  of  death  is  not  a  gulf ;  it  is  only  a  thin  veil ;  and 
man  remains  himself  after  passing  through. 


CHAPTER    IV 

OTHER    INCIDENTS 

In  most  sittings  with  mediums,  the  sitters  are  people 
who  have  been  recently  bereaved  and  who  are  seeking 
communications  from  someone  who  has  crossed  over; 
and  it  is  perhaps  under  these  conditions  that  the  best 
results  are  obtained.  For,  whatever  the  explanation, 
I  think  that  all  investigators  are  agreed  on  the  fact 
that  a  strong  emotional  link  between  a  sitter  and 
someone  on  the  other  side  is  found  to  conduce  to 
successfully  evidential  messages.  The  fact  itself, 
though  to  many  minds — as  to  my  own — suggestive  of 
the  genuineness  of  the  ostensible  communicator,  who, 
if  still  existent  and  retaining  the  loves  of  earth,  will 
certainly  wish  to  communicate,  nevertheless  does  not 
prove  any  particular  explanation.  It  is  reasonable  on 
the  hypothesis  of  the  phenomena  being  what  they 
claim  to  be;  but  it  is  also  reasonable,  more  or  less,  on 
the  hypothesis  of  telepathy,  though  I  shall  argue  later 
that  telepathy  is  a  doubtfully  applicable  "explanation" 
when  this  supposititious  mind-reading  is  meant.  We 
may  admit,  then,  that  this  fact  of  the  emotional  link's 
giving  good  conditions  does  not  count  greatly  in  favour 
of  the  spiritistic  theory,  though  in  my  opinion  it  does 
so  count  to  some  extent. 

But,  what  is  more  important  to  the  scientific  con- 
sideration of  these  things,  the  fact  of  such  an  emo- 
tional link  is  itself  sufficient  to  cause  a  certain  distrust 

SI 


52  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

in  the  minds  of  sceptical  readers  who  have  had  no 
firsthand  experience  of  these  things.  Such  a  distrust 
is  natural,  and  is,  indeed,  to  some  extent  well  grounded. 
A  bereaved  mother,  seeking  evidence  of  her  soldier- 
son's  continued  existence,  of  his  love,  of  his  hoped-for 
well-being,  is  not  an  ideal  investigator.  She  is  inev- 
itably biased.  Her  emotions  and  strong  desire  are 
likely  to  affect  her  observation  and  interpretation  of 
the  phenomena.  Her  state  of  mind  is  entirely  right 
and  creditable,  and  we  should  not  wish  it  different; 
but  it  prevents  us  from  accepting  her  testimony  with 
entire  confidence.  And  it  is  so,  more  or  less,  with  the 
testimony  of  all  investigators  who  have  a  strong  emo- 
tional link  with  someone  on  the  other  side  and  a  strong 
desire  to  know  of  his  well-being.  This  is,  of  course, 
particularly  so  if  they  come  new  to  the  subject  soon 
after  their  bereavement.  An  old  investigator,  who 
took  up  the  research  from  scientific  motives  and  has 
had  years  of  experience,  will  be  a  reliable  witness  even 
after  a  near  relative  has  gone  over;  for  he  knows  to 
be  on  his  guard  against  his  own  bias.  Yet  even  in 
such  a  case  the  sceptic  will  distrust,  and  we  cannot 
altogether  blame  him.  Where  there  inevitably  is  emo- 
tion, the  critical  faculty,  speaking  generally,  cannot 
be  at  its  alertest. 

It  is  on  this  count  that  I  think  my  own  testimony 
is,  if  I  may  say  so,  rather  exceptionally  trustworthy. 
I  have  no  strong  emotional  link  with  anyone  on  the 
other  side.  My  parents  are  there,  it  is  true,  and  I 
hope  my  feelings  are  not  unfilial;  but  my  mother 
died  thirty  years  ago  and  my  father  eighteen  years 
ago,  and  time  heals  the  pain  of  such  natural  losses. 
Certainly  I  never  felt  any  of  that  keen  yearning  for 


OTHER  INCIDENTS  53 

communication  that  many  parents  naturally  feel  in 
the  case  of  the  untimely  death  of  a  son.  I  did  not  be- 
come interested  in  psychical  matters  until  about  eight 
years  after  my  father's  death,  and  my  motive  was 
sheer  scientific  curiosity,  entirely  uncoloured  by  any 
special  desire  either  about  survival  in  general  or  the 
continued  existence  of  my  deceased  relatives  in  par- 
ticular. 

Having  found,  through  a  certain  trance-medium, 
a  considerable  amount  of  evidence  for  supemomiality, 
which  however  did  not  prove,  or  purport  to  prove, 
spirits,  I  was  interested  enough  to  follow  up  the  sub- 
ject with  other  mediums,  whose  powers  bore  more 
closely  on  the  question  of  survival.  My  friends  Mr. 
Knight  and  Mr.  Oddy  first  undertook  a  series  of  sittings 
— extraordinarily  successful  ones,  as  it  turned  out — 
with  Mr.  A.  Wilkinson,  the  "Watson"  of  my  New 
Evidences  in  Psychical  Research^  and  I  have  now  been 
able  to  follow  them  up  with  sittings  on  my  own  ac- 
coimt,  carefully  arranged  and  reported.  And  the  point 
is,  that  although  some  of  my  deceased  relatives  do  occa- 
sionally announce  themselves,  in  entirely  calm  and 
unemotional  ways,  the  major  portion  of  the  evidence 
concerns  people  whom  I  knew  only  slightly  or  not  at 
all,  and  with  whom,  consequently,  I  have  no  emotional 
link. 

From  this  I  hope  it  will  be  fairly  clear,  if  my  state- 
ment of  a  matter  of  fact  is  believed,  that  the  element 
of  emotional  bias  is  not  present  in  my  case,  and  that 
no  discount  needs  to  be  deducted  from  my  evidence 
on  this  score.  I  will  now  give  a  few  rather  fragmentary 
incidents  illustrating  what  has  just  been  said.  They 
are  of  similar  character  to  those  already  described. 


54  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

except  that  they  do  not  happen  to  be  "meeting"  cases. 
The  spirits  in  question  do  not  seem  to  have  been  in 
proximity  to  the  earth-state  and  therefore  perceptible 
to  the  medium  because  they  had  come  to  meet  some 
dying  friend,  but  rather  to  have  called  in,  so  to  speak, 
for  reasons  of  their  own,  being  interested  in  the  locality 
or  in  people  known  to  me ;  or,  perhaps  more  probably, 
they  may  have  been  brought,  by  some  spirit  better 
known  to  me,  for  the  express  purpose  of  eliminating 
telepathy  or  at  least  making  it  seem  improbable. 

It  has  often  been  said,  at  sittings,  that  a  certain  spirit 
brought  another,  as  Mr.  Leather  brought  his  friends 
Sidney  and  Drayton;  and  there  does,  indeed,  seem  to 
have  been  something  like  a  definite  plan  on  the  part 
of  a  small  group  of  people,  known  to  me  in  life  but 
not  related  to  me  or  in  any  way  closely  or  emotionally 
linked  with  me,  to  supply  me  with  evidence  of  survival 
which  should  exclude  all  the  other  and  more  scientifi- 
cally fashionable  hypotheses.  And  I  admit  that  they 
have  succeeded  in  convincing  me.  The  separate  items 
of  evidence  may  seem  not  strong;  and  certainly  I 
should  base  no  theory  on  any  one  of  them  alone.  But 
the  strength  is  cumulative.  No  one  item  is  entirely 
without  evidential  strength,  so  it  is  not  a  case  of  adding 
a  lot  of  nothings  and  making  something.  It  is  a  case 
of  adding  littles  until  they  make  quite  legitimately  a 
mickle.    The  sticks  are  weak,  but  the  faggot  is  strong. 

In  my  sitting  of  December  14th,  1914,  among  other 
evidential  matter,  the  medium  said:  ''Some  man 
named  Driver  here.""  This  conveyed  nothing  in  par- 
ticular to  me,  for  though  I  immediately  thought  of  a 
living  Mr.  Driver  who  was  slightly  known  to  me,  I 
could  not  recall  any  deceased  Drivers.     On  reflection 


OTHER  INCIDENTS  55 

afterwards  I  remembered  one  man  of  that  name  who 
died  perhaps  thirty  years  ago,  but  I  knew  him  only 
by  sight. 

In  my  sitting  of  February  17th,  1916,  the  medium 
said:  ''Do  you.  know  any  DriverX"  To  which  I 
replied  only:  "Yes,"  thinking  about  the  same  living 
Driver  as  before.  Later,  after  a  great  deal  of  extra- 
ordinary evidence  about  other  people  (e.g.  the  Mr. 
Charlton  and  the  Walkleys  mentioned  in  the  foregoing 
chapter),  the  medium  said,  abruptly:  ''Have  you 
known  someone  named  'Edmund?'''  I  said:  "Yes," 
thinking  of  a  local  tradesman  named  Edmund  Stott, 
who  died  a  few  years  ago.    The  medium  continued : 

"Man  of  seventy  or  seventy-three^  this  Edmund.  Did 
not  die  about  here;  I  am  taken  away.  He  went  to 
Morecambe.  Might  have  lived  at  Morecambe.  Might 
have  lived  or  died  there.  Tall,  fairly  straight,  full 
beard  and  on  cheeks,  big  nose,  well  dressed,  black,  very 
tidy.  Name,  Edmund;  biggish-bodied  man,  good  phy- 
sique.'' [This,  I  thought,  would  fit  Edmund  Stott, 
except  that  I  felt  pretty  sure  that  he  died  at  home, 
sixty  miles  from  Morecambe.  The  medium  proceeded :  ] 
"/  smell  a  smell  of  brewing — beer.  Malt,  as  if  you 
were  passing  a  brewery.  A  nice  smell.  But  it's  quite 
different  from  those  flowers.  [Pointing  to  flowers  on 
the  table.]     It's  malt." 

The  medium  looked  rather  puzzled,  so  I  remarked: 
"No  brewers  among  my  relatives,  but  there  is  a  con- 
nexion between  brewing  and  Mr.  Charlton."  This 
latter  gentleman,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  chapter, 
was  a  business  man  in  quite  a  different  line,  but  he 
was  also  interested  in  a  brewery  company. 

It  will  be  observed  that  if  telepathy  from  the  con- 


56  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

scious  levels  of  my  own  mind  had  any  directing  in- 
fluence on  the  phenomena,  the  medium  ought  to  have 
dropped  the  Driver  subject  after  the  first  shot  on 
December  14th,  1914,  for  it  evoked  no  particularly 
fitting  recollection.  Then  on  February  17th,  1916, 
when  an  Edmund  was  mentioned  and  described,  he 
ought  to  have  got  details  about  the  draper's  shop  kept 
by  a  deceased  Edmund  Stott  whom  I  had  known. 
Instead  of  this,  however,  he  went  on  to  a  smell  of 
brewing,  which  I  attributed  to  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Charlton,  though  I  recognised  that  this  was  a  trifle 
far-fetched,  as  his  connexion  with  the  actual  fact  of 
brewing  was  not  close.  But,  thinking  of  Mr.  Charlton 
at  the  time,  my  thoughts — one  might  surmise,  on  a 
telepathic  hypothesis — should  have  led  the  medium 
astray  in  a  Charlton  direction,  as  my  thoughts  about 
the  draper  should  have  led  him  among  my  Stott 
recollections.  But  they  did  not.  Now  for  the 
sequel. 

Happening  to  re-read  the  report  of  the  February 
17th  sitting  a  month  later,  I  for  the  first  time  put  the 
"Edmund"  and  the  "Driver"  together;  and  the  name 
seemed  dimly  known  to  me.  After  some  reflection  I 
felt  half  sure  that  such  a  man  had  lived.  Later,  I  be- 
gan to  remember,  vaguely,  that  he  had  tenanted  a  hotel 
not  far  away,  about  twenty  years  ago.  But  I  had 
known  him — if,  indeed,  the  recollection  was  trustwor- 
thy at  all — only  by  sight,  and  had  not  thought  of  him 
for  many  years.  However,  I  enquired  of  a  relative, 
who  said  that  a  man  of  that  name  had  certainly  kept 
that  hotel;  so  I  investigated  further,  finding  at  length 
a  friend  of  mine  who  had  known  Edmund  Driver  very 
well.    The  medium's  description,  says  this  friend,  ap- 


OTHER  INCIDENTS  57 

plies  to  Driver  exactly,  and  more  closely  than  it  applies 
to  Edmund  Stott,  whom  also  he  knew.  And  at  the 
time  of  Driver's  tenancy  of  that  hotel  the  owners 
brewed  on  the  premises;  so  the  smell  of  brewing  was 
very  relevant.  No  relatives  of  his  remain  in  the  district. 
As  to  the  medium's  ever  having  heard  of  him,  it  is 
extremely  improbable.  He  died  while  Wilkinson  was 
a  boy. 

The  death,  however,  did  not  occur  at  Morecambe. 
But  it  happens  that  the  son  (known  to  me)  of  the 
owner  of  the  hotel  in  those  days  does  live  there;  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Driver  was  trying  to  allude 
to  him,  in  order  to  put  me  in  the  way  of  his  own  identi- 
fication. This  is  conjecture,  and  I  do  not  press  it.  But 
I  have  so  often  found  that  an  apparently  wrong  state- 
ment had  evidential  meaning  behind  it,  that  I  think 
the  conjecture  in  this  case  is  justified.    I  think  Driver 

was  trying  to  say:     "Ask  Mr.  ,  of  Morecambe; 

he  will  tell  you  about  me."  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
medium  was  uncertain  about  the  nature  of  the  More- 
cambe connexion;  probably  he  got  the  impression  of 
Morecambe,  and  supplied  by  his  own  inference  that 
Driver  died  there. 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  feel  absolutely  sure 
that  any  one  item  of  information  has  never  entered  a 
given  person's  mind;  and  we  must  remember  that  we 
have  to  allow  for  subliminal  (forgotten)  knowledge, 
quite  apart  from  conscious  deception,  which  in  Wilkin- 
son's case  is  completely  excluded  both  by  specific  facts 
of  evidence  and  by  my  high  estimate  of  his  character. 
Consequently,  I  would  not  build  a  theory  on  any  one 
assumption,  such  as  that  of  the  medium's  ignorance 
of  facts  concerning  Edmund  Driver.     But  when  the 


58  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

evidence  reaches  a  certain  degree  of  extensivencFS,  an 
assumption  of  ignorance  becomes  justifiable.  A  me- 
dium may  have  some  knowledge,  subliminal  or  con- 
scious, of  one  or  two  people  of  whom  it  seems  improb- 
able that  he  should  know  anything;  but  when  the 
number  of  people  becomes  considerable,  this  explana- 
tion by  normal  knowledge  becomes  incredible.  "There 
is  a  point,"  Andrew  Lang  has  well  said,  "at  which  the 
explanations  of  common  sense  arouse  scepticism." 
Moreover,  normally  acquired  knowledge  is  eliminated 
in  several  cases  where  my  friends  or  I  have  introduced 
sitters  from  another  town,  people  of  whom  we  knew 
next  to  nothing  and  whose  deceased  relatives  cannot 
reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  been  known  to  the 
medium  or  to  have  been  the  subject  of  conversation  in 
his  hearing. 

As  to  why  Edmund  Driver  communicated — if  he 
was  indeed  here  in  propria  persona — I  do  not  know. 
Perhaps  some  friend  of  mine  brought  him,  for  evidence' 
sake,  as  Mr.  Leather  brought  Mr.  Sidney.  And  two 
things  are  perhaps  noteworthy:  (i)  the  hotel  he  kept 
is  the  nearest  place  of  its  kind  to  my  house,  where 
the  sittings  took  place;  (2)  he  almost  certainly  knew 
me  better  than  I  knew  him,  for  he  would  see  me  pass 
frequently  on  my  way  to  the  station.  During  the 
period  of  his  tenancy  I  should  pass  it  twice  daily,  and 
sometimes  oftener.  Also  his  brother  and  my  father 
knew  each  other  very  well,  and  probably  he  himself 
was  rather  well  known  to  my  father,  who,  as  it  happens 
— if  anything  does  "happen" — also  purported  to  be 
present  at  the  sitting  of  February  17th,  and  may  have 
brought  him. 

A  less  detailed  but  equally  curious  example  of  an 


OTHER  INCIDENTS  59 

unexpected  and  almost  forgotten  person  communicat- 
ing may  be  briefly  described.  On  January  15th,  1915, 
the  medium  said,  among  evidential  matter : 

''When  you  were  a  little  hoy^  did  you  know  a  tallish 
woman  who  had  a  wooden  leg  or  a  false  foot?  Tall^ 
thin  woman;  thumps  with  her  foot.  Elderly,  Thud 
every  time  her  foot  goes  down.  Been  associated  with 
you  in  your  childhood  days'' 

This  evoked  no  recollection  at  all  in  my  mind. 
Later  in  the  same  sitting  the  medium  said : 

''Woman  with  foot  wrong  walks  past  again.  Tall^ 
thin.  Old-fashioned  mantle  she  has  on.  It  is  the  right 
foot  that  goes  down  with  a  thump." 

Here  he  got  up  and  walked  about,  imitating  the 
form  that  he  could  see,  and  limping  heavily  as  with  a 
short  right  leg.  Still  I  failed  to  recognise;  and  there 
the  matter  remained  for  over  a  year.  Then,  on  March 
10th,  1916,  I  happened  to  mention  the  incident  to 
my  sister,  who  said  the  description  reminded  her  of 
Emma  Steeton.  I  then  remembered  Emma  Steeton 
very  well.  The  description  fits,  except  that  I  am 
quite  uncertain  which  leg  was  deficient,  and  I  doubt 
whether  she  had  a  wooden  leg  or  foot.  Our  impression 
is  that  her  lameness  was  due  to  a  fall.  She  was  a 
worthy  old  cottager  who  lived  near  us  in  our  childhood, 
and  occasionally  had  us  in  to  tea  and  looked  after  us 
generally  if  our  parents  were  out.  She  died  probably 
thirty  years  ago,  and  no  relatives  are  left  that  I  know 
of.  Few  living  people  will  remember  her,  and  I  do  not 
believe  that  Wilkinson  has  ever  heard  her  mentioned, 
his  orbit  being  very  wide  apart  from  that  of  the  few 
living  people  who  have  any  interest  in  her.  At  that 
time  we  were  living  in  an  outlying  part  of  the  village 


6o  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

of  Thornton — ^now  a  ward  of  Bradford — and  Emma's 
circle  of  acquaintances  was  extremely  small,  her  lame- 
ness keeping  her  near  home  to  a  greater  extent  than 
was  the  case  with  her  neighbours — though  they  also 
were  hard-working,  stay-at-home  villagers. 

Nothing  more  was  heard  of  her  for  over  a  year, 
and  of  course  I  never  mentioned  her  either  by  name 
or  description  to  the  medium.  In  my  sitting  of  April 
12th,  1916,  however,  there  was  a  reappearance.  I  do 
not  believe  that  Mr.  Wilkinson  had  any  conscious  recol- 
lection of  the  woman  described  fifteen  months  before, 
but  of  course  I  cannot  prove  that.  I  can  only  say 
that  in  my  opinion  he  remembers  practically  nothing 
of  what  he  has  seen  and  said,  unless  something  special 
has  happened  at  a  sitting  only  a  few  days  before.  If 
I  could  adequately  represent  his  busy  life,  continually 
occupied  with  addresses  and  clairvoyance  from  Exeter 
to  Aberdeen,  very  little  of  his  time  being  spent  at 
home,  it  would  be  clear  to  the  reader  that  any  normal 
memory-explanation  of  these  sequential  incidents  is 
quite  unacceptable. 

This  is  what  was  said  on  April  12th,  1916: 
''Did  you  ever  know  a  woman  with  a  wood  leg? 
Tall^  elderly^  a  wood  foot  or  leg  J"  [I  said  I  thought  I 
knew  who  it  was.]  "/  could  hear  the  thud  on  the 
floor.'"  [A.  W.  got  up  and  limped  about,  thudding 
with  his  right  foot.]  ''You  would  know  this  woman 
with  the  leg  when  you  were  a  boy.  She  has  been  gone 
on  many  years.  I  feel  as  if  she  takes  me  somewhere 
where  she  lived.  It  is  a  local  connexion;  I  don^t  get 
far  away.''  [And,  later  in  the  same  sitting:]  "This 
woman  with  the  wood  leg  must  have  had  a  good  voice, 


OTHER  INCIDENTS  61 

and  could  sing.  She  is  showing  me  some  hymn-books ; 
she  was  interested  in  hymn-books  and  music." 

I  have  now  made  further  enquiries  of  the  two  or 
three  local  cottagers  who  remember  Mrs.  Steeton,  but 
not  much  detail  is  obtainable.  Nothing  special  seems 
to  be  remembered  about  her  voice,  and  I  incline  to 
think  that  this  was  an  inference  of  Wilkinson's  own 
mind.  What  he  actually  saw,  with  his  psychic  sight, 
was  a  hymn-book  or  some  hymn-books,  and  this  may 
have  been  merely  a  reminder  of  the  Wesleyan  Chapel 
near  by,  which  she  attended  and  the  services  at  which 
were  probably  the  pleasantest  and  most  notable  inci- 
dents in  her  monotonous  and  lonely  life — for  she  was 
a  widow  without  children,  so  far  as  I  know,  and  cer- 
tainly lived  alone.  This  view  that  the  hymn-books 
mean  the  chapel  is  supported  by  the  incident  which 
the  reader  will  find  later,  described  in  the  report  of 
the  sitting  of  January  15th,  1915,  in  which  a  Moses 
Young  appeared,  holding  a  chapel  hymn-book.  I  had 
forgotten  this  old  man,  and  even  when  I  remembered 
him  I  had  no  recollection  of  his  first  name,  which,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  turned  out  to  be  Moses.  He  attended 
the  same  chapel  as  we  did,  and  his  pew  was  conspicu- 
ous in  my  field  of  view,  as  my  place  in  the  choir  was  in 
his.  I  never  had  anything  to  do  with  him,  and  prob- 
ably never  exchanged  a  word  with  him,  rarely  seeing 
him  except  on  Sundays.  The  reminder  of  the  chapel 
was  therefore  very  appropriate. 

I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  whether  Mrs. 
Steeton  had  a  wooden  leg  or  foot.  All  who  remember 
her  are,  however,  agreed  about  her  lameness.  There 
seems  no  certainty  attainable  as  to  which  leg  it  was, 
though  one  informant,  without  knowing  what  answer 


62  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

I  expected,  said  she  thought  it  was  the  right  leg,  which 
is  what  the  medium  said. 

The  name  I  have  given  is  a  pseudonym.  I  have 
hopes  that  the  real  name  will  yet  come  through,  for 
Wilkinson  is  particularly  good  at  names.  The  evidence 
will  then  be  greatly  improved.  But  I  have  not  much 
doubt  about  Emma  Steeton  being  intended,  for  she  is 
the  only  lame  woman  I  remember  having  known  in 
my  childhood  days,  and  the  other  details  also  seem 
to  fit. 


CHAPTER    V 

INTRODUCTION    TO    DETAILED    REPORTS 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  I  have  presented  evidence 
extracted  from  the  records  of  several  sittings,  in  order 
that  a  series  of  connected  incidents  may  be  seen  as 
a  whole.  But  though  this  is  necessary,  something 
more  is  necessary  also;  for  the  reader  has  no  assurance 
that  I  am  not  picking  out  things  that  fit  perhaps  by 
chance,  and  suppressing  many  things  which  were 
meaningless  or  incorrect.  Without  a  complete  account 
of  the  sittings,  with  hits  and  misses  fully  recorded,  it 
is  impossible  to  estimate  the  evidential  value  of  inci- 
dents contained  in  them.  I  therefore  now  give  the 
reports  as  copied  from  my  verbatim  shorthand  notes, 
with  comments  made  the  same  day  or  within  two 
days  of  the  sittings.  These  reports  are  complete  as 
to  misses,  though  not  quite  complete  as  to  hits;  for 
I  have  had  to  omit  several  striking  pieces  of  evidence 
out  of  consideration  for  living  relatives  of  the  spirit 
communicating — often  someone  quite  unrelated  and, 
indeed,  only  slightly  known  to  me.  Consequently,  in 
estimating  the  evidence  here  presented,  the  reader  may 
feel  sure  that  he  is  estimating  on  the  conservative 
side.  If  I  could  have  given  the  reports  in  absolute 
completeness,  the  evidence  would  have  been  much 
stronger. 

It  will  be  seen  that  though  the  reports  contain  in 
scattered   fragments  the  matter  quoted  connectedly 

63 


64  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

in  the  foregoing  chapters,  they  are  not  merely  a  repeti- 
tion, for  they  contain  many  other  small  incidents  of 
an  evidential  character,  duly  explained  in  the  inserted 
notes. 

In  the  first  few  sittings,  though  everything  said 
by  the  medium  (except  for  the  reservations  just  men- 
tioned) is  put  down,  there  is  no  verbatim  record  of 
what  I  myself  said.  It  may,  of  course,  be  taken  for 
granted  that  I  was  on  my  guard  to  give  nothing  away, 
and  I  am  absolutely  sure  that  I  gave  no  information 
or  guidance  save  what  is  recorded;  the  Torringham 
and  Walker  incidents  being  the  main  ones.  But, 
realising  the  importance  of  absolutely  verbatim  re- 
ports, I  succeeded  in  later  sittings  in  getting  down 
everything  that  was  said  during  the  period  of  the 
clairvoyance,  whether  by  the  medium  or  myself.  The 
reader  will  therefore  be  able  to  judge  for  himself  how 
much  or  how  little  assistance  I  involuntarily  gave. 

As  to  facial  indications  or  the  like,  I  think  I  may 
say  that  I  have  a  fairly  sphinx-like  countenance — so, 
at  least,  I  have  been  told  by  friends — and  I  do  not 
think  much  is  revealed  in  that  way.  For  one  thing, 
I  am  so  busy  doing  the  reporting  that  my  mind  does 
not  always  quite  take  in  all  the  connotations  and. 
significances,  in  the  stress  of  getting  the  words  down 
correctly;  and,  further,  no  expression  of  countenance 
would  tell  the  medium  my  great-grandmother's  maiden 
name  or  the  occupation  of  Benjamin  Torrington's 
father,  whom  I  had  never  known.  And  in  this  matter 
of  names,  a  department  in  which  Wilkinson  is  far 
ahead  of  any  other  medium  I  have  ever  known  or  heard 
of,  there  is  hardly  ever  any  fishing  or  hesitancy.  The 
Torringham  and  Walker  incidents  were  very  excep- 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REPORTS         65 

tional;  the  name  is  usually  hit  off  at  the  first  shot, 
with  no  hesitancy  whatever.  And  there  is  no  physical 
contact  in  the  sittings,  so  muscle-reading  is  excluded. 

I  wish  I  could  make  it  as  clear  to  the  reader's  mind 
as  it  is  to  my  own,  that,  whatever  the  true  explanation, 
it  certainly  is  not  a  normal  one.  Knowledge  is  shown, 
in  the  clairvoyant  gleams,  which  has  not  entered  the 
medium's  mind  through  the  known  sensory  channels. 
Unfortunately,  I  cannot  pass  on  to  others  my  con- 
viction on  this  point,  partly  because  firsthand  experi- 
ence is  more  convincing  than  secondhand  testimony, 
and  partly  because  I  cannot  give  all  the  evidence  on 
which  my  conviction  is  based.  For  instance,  on  one 
occasion  a  certain  spirit  was  said  to  be  present,  and 
the  medium  got  an  impression  concerning  a  private 
family  matter  in  which  that  particular  spirit  would 
certainly  be  interested.  I  am  absolutely  sure  that  only 
four  people  knew  of  the  matter — four  people,  that  is, 
on  this  side.  And  it  is  certain  that  none  of  them  had 
told  Wilkinson  about  it.  A  curious  feature  was  that 
the  medium  did  not  get  the  details,  which  on  a  tele- 
pathic hypothesis  we  might  expect  he  would;  he  got 
just  enough  to  show  that  some  intelligence  which  did 
know  them  was  at  work.  Things  of  this  kind  have 
occurred  several  times,  and  they  irresistibly  suggest 
that  a  discarnate  mind  is  conveying  to  the  medium 
just  sufficient  allusion  to  private  matters  to  indicate 
supemormality  and  its  own  identity,  without  giving 
enough  detail  to  enable  the  medium  to  understand. 

Other  contributory  pieces  of  evidence  come  to  me 
from  people  who  visit  halls  in  various  towns  where 
Wilkinson  is  giving  platform  clairvoyance.  For  in- 
stance, only  yesterday  (October  26th,  1916)  I  heard 


66  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

from  my  friend  Dr.  Horsman — who  is  not  a  member 
of  any  spiritualist  society — that  he  attended  a  meeting 
in  Northumberland  last  week,  and  that  Wilkinson 
described  and  named  a  spirit  beside  him,  said  to  have 
been  a  doctor  who  died  of  blood-poisoning  some  time 
ago,  aged  about  sixty-three.  The  full  Christian  name 
and  surname  were  given,  but  were  not  recognised  by 
either  Dr.  Horsman  or  anyone  else  in  the  room.  Mak- 
ing enquiries  later,  however,  he  discovered  that  a  doc- 
tor of  that  name  had  died  in  a  town  some  miles  away, 
eighteen  years  ago,  aged  sixty-three,  and  that  the 
cause  of  death  was  blood-poisoning.  Also  that  one  of 
his  own  (Dr.  Horsman's)  patients  had  formerly  been 
attended  by  the  doctor  in  question,  and  had  been 
operated  on  by  him.  Perhaps  he  is  still  interested  in 
the  "case" ! 

As  to  Wilkinson's  knowledge  of  Bradford  people, 
past  and  present,  I  am  confident  that  it  is  practically 
nil.  He  never  comes  into  the  district  except  to  see 
me.  And  I  am  equally  sure  that  he  has  not  amassed 
subliminal  perceptions  in  local  cemeteries,  for  he  says 
he  has  never  been  in  one  about  here,  and  I  believe  him. 
Sensitives  are  not  fond  of  such  places;  not  that  the 
fact  of  death  is  as  terrible  to  them  as  it  is  to  the 
average  person,  but  because  the  emotional  atmosphere, 
so  to  speak,  is  depressing,  as  a  result  of  the  living 
mourners  who  are  continually  there. 

There  remains  the  consideration  of  how  much  I 
involuntarily  "let  out"  in  general  conversation  before 
the  sitting.  This  is  not  noted  down,  because  it  is  not 
worth  it.  I  fear  that  here  I  must  make  demands  on 
the  reader's  faith.  I  cannot  prove  that  I  do  not  let 
things  out.     I  can  only  say  that  in  these  preliminary 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REPORTS         67 

conversations,  which  usually  last  only  a  few  minutes 
before  clairvoyance  begins,  the  subject  is  the  weather, 
the  war,  or  anything  except  deceased  people  or  private 
affairs ;  and  that  a  man  of  cautious  habit  and  of  rather 
unfluent  speech,  trained  to  further  restraint  by  years 
of  psychical  research,  is  not  likely  to  spoil  the  evidence 
by  telling  a  medium  things  that  he  does  not  want  him 
to  know. 

For  the  sake  of  furnishing  additional  data  for  the 
reader's  judgment,  in  the  exact  form  in  which  they 
were  received,  I  include  extracts  from  some  of  Mr. 
Wilkinson's  letters.  Lest  it  should  be  thought  that  I 
have  involuntarily  given  information  in  general  corre- 
spondence with  him,  I  may  here  say  that  we  do  not 
"correspond"  in  the  ordinary  sense  at  all.  I  write 
when  I  want  to  ask  for  a  sitting;  that  is  all.  And  I 
am  careful  not  to  give  anything  away  that  would 
spoil  possible  evidence.  He  himself  is  equally  keen 
on  this;  and  at  sittings  he  often  says:  "Don't  tell 
me  anything;  let's  see  if  more  will  come";  and  after 
a  sitting  I  never  expatiate  on  the  details.  I  usually 
say:  "You  got  some  very  good  clairvoyance,"  or  "I 
recognised  most  of  them,"  or  something  like  that,  en- 
couraging but  not  informing. 

Mr.  Wilkinson's  mediumship  is  remarkable,  as  I 
have  just  said,  in  the  ease  and  correctness  with  which 
he  gets  names.  This  is  usually  one  of  the  difficult 
things  in  mediumistic  communications.  Most  me- 
diums seem  to  have  to  guess  at  a  name  from  some 
symbolic  pictures  which  they  see,  as  when  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son's Nelly  gave  the  name  "Happyfield" — seeing  chil- 
dren playing  happily  in  a  field — the  right  name  being 
"Merrifield."    No  doubt  the  method  varies,  and  some- 


68  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

times  there  is  a  more  direct  communication,  even  in 
cases  like  Mrs.  Thompson's  and  Mrs.  Piper's.  In 
Wilkinson's  case  I  think  his  exceptional  success  in  this 
department  may  be  due  to  his  very  bad  sight.  He 
has  had  several  operations  on  his  eyes,  and  is  indeed 
half  blind,  even  with  his  specially-made  glasses,  re- 
inforced with  a  lens  for  reading.  Consequently  his 
world  is  much  more  a  world  of  sounds,  and  much  less 
a  world  of  sights,  than  the  world  of  a  normal  person; 
and  his  perceptivity  will  perhaps  therefore  be  above 
the  normal,  in  non-visual  directions.  This  is  so,  even 
in  my  own  case.  I  am  extremely  shortsighted;  but 
my  hearing  is  more  acute  than  that  of  anyone  else  in 
the  house,  and  I  can  recognise  voices  much  better  than 
most  people.  Also,  it  is  somewhat  the  same  with  my 
sense  of  smell.  It  will  be  noticed  by  the  reader  of  the 
sitting-reports  in  this  volume  that  Wilkinson  often  gets 
supernormal  facts  through  his  psychic  sense  of  smell, 
as  he  gets  names  through  his  psychic  hearing — clair- 
audience  or  direct  impression. 

I  now  give  the  full  reports,  preceded  by  copies  of  the 
letters  mentioned.    These  are  arranged  chronologically. 


CHAPTER   VI 

medium's  letters,  and  reports 

'Extract  from  letter  dated  July  Tlnd^  IQO??  from  Mr. 
Wilkinson  to  J,  A.  H, 

.  .  .  Respecting  a  seance^  I  might  tell  you  I  don't 
habit  myself  to  giving  private  ones,  as  I  am  more  a 
public  test  giver,  but,  of  course,  I  may  possibly  be 
able  to  say  something  to  you.  I  take  no  fee  unless 
I  give  an  equivalent,  so  that  should  I  come  to  see 
you  my  out-of-pocket  expenses  would  be  my  only 
charge.  I  could  not  come  very  well  this  week,  and 
next  week  I  am  away  from  home  nearly  all  the  week 
in  Lancashire,  so  that  as  soon  as  I  can  conveniently 
spend  an  afternoon  with  you  I  will  do  so.  It  would 
perhaps  be  as  well  if  you  just  dropped  me  a  card,  say 
in  about  two  weeks  from  now.  I  shall  then  at  least 
by  to-morrow  fortnight  have  returned  from  Walsall, 
where  I  have  engagements  to  meet,  and  if  you  did 
so  it  then  would  not  slip  my  mind,  as  I  have  so  many 
calls. 

Extract  from  letter  dated  February  24M,  19 II,  from 
Mr,  Wilkinson  to  J.  A..H. 

...  I  quite  appreciate  the  tone  of  your  letter  when 
you  say  you  and  your  friends  believe  in  my  honesty, 
though,  of  course,  that  does  not  prove  much.  Re- 
specting the  results  obtained  through  me  at  any  of 

69 


70  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  sittings,  I  can  emphatically  say  no  previous  in- 
formation had  been  given  me  by  anyone.  Referring 
to  the  possibility  of  me  seeing  a  tombstone  inscription, 
I  may  tell  you  I  never  was  in  a  cemetery  in  Thornton 
in  my  life,  and  moreover  how  would  I  know  which  to 
visit  to  find  such,  not  knowing  you  in  any  way*?  I 
am  fully  aware  of  the  practices  of  fraudulent  mediums 
and  the  necessary  caution  to  be  taken  to  guard  against 
such,  so  that  I  quite  understand  your  reference.  If 
the  phenomena  are  not  what  they  purport  to  be,  then 
I  cannot  say  what  they  are  or  how  it  comes  about. 
I  am  perfectly  conscious  that  no  other  than  the  proper 
motive  has  prompted  me.  My  chief  regret  is  that  the 
power  is  so  limited.  .  .  . 

Extract  from  letter  dated  March  o^rd,  1911,  from 
Mr.  Wilkinson  to  J.  A.  H, 

...  A  strange  feeling  touches  me  while  I  write  you, 
and  a  voice  speaks  in  my  ear:  "Tell  him  John  Hey 
is  very  interested  in  his  welfare."  Of  course,  I  don't 
know  if  you  ever  knew  such  a  man,  but  he  was  old 
when  he  died,  and  related  to  you  somehow,  I  think. 

[My  mother's  father  was  John  Hey,  and  he  died 
at  eighty.     He  appears  in  various  sittings  later.] 

Extract  from  letter  dated  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  March 
20th,  1911,  from  Mr.  Wilkinson  to  J.  A.  H. 

...  It  seems  to  me  so  strange  that  this  faculty  should 
be  looked  on  in  the  light  it  is,  because  it  appears  so 
natural  to  me.  ...  I  am  not  an  imaginative  person, 
I  am  sure,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  things 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      71 

of  this  kind,  which  almost  invariably  are  proven  to  be 

correct. 

[Wilkinson  has  often  said  to  me,  when  a  form 
has  appeared  to  him  with  exceptional  clearness: 
"Do  you  really  see  nothing?  I  can  hardly  believe 
you  can't  see  that  form;  it  is  as  real  to  my  eyes  as 
you  are  or  as  my  own  body  is."  But  I  think  the 
"sight"  is  psychical,  not  physical,  for  he  sees  more 
detail  in  the  forms  than  he  could  see  with  his  physi- 
cal sight.  I  should  say  it  is  true  that  he  is  not 
imaginative ;  he  is  quiet,  matter-of-fact,  critical,  not 
jumpy,  or  oratorical,  or  neurotic] 

Extract  from  letter  dated  November  24/^,  1911,  from 
Mr,  Wilkinson  to  J,  A,  H, 

P.S. — While  writing  to  you  I  am  visibly  impressed 
by  the  name  of  "Bannister."  I  have  no  idea  whether 
it  is  a  man  or  woman,  and  I  cannot  feel  a  name  to 
precede  it.  I  thought  I  would  just  drop  it  down;  it 
might  interest  you,  whether  it  means  anything  or  not. 

A.  W. 
[My  father's  name  was  Bannister  Hill.    I  have 
no  reason  to  think  that  this  was  known  to  the  me- 
dium, and  I  did  not  tell  him  anything  about  the 
correctness  or  applicability  of  his  impression.] 

SITTING  1 

July  2ist,  1914,  2.20  p.m,  to  4.30  p.m.    Present, 
J.  A.  H.  and  medium  (Mr.  A,  Wilkinson). 

This  was  very  nearly  a  blank  sitting.     Probably 
I   the  medium  was  not  yet  quite  at  ease,  having  seen  me 


72  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

only  twice  before,  not  in  this  house;  also  he  is  very 
thoughtful  for  others,  and  was  no  doubt  more  or  less 
anxious  lest  I  should  get  nervous  or  tired,  my  heart  not 
being  good.  And,  whatever  theory  we  adopt  in  ex- 
planation of  the  phenomena  as  a  whole,  it  is  certain 
that  any  anxiety  on  the  medium's  part  tends  to  inhibit 
them. 

The  following  is  all  that  was  obtained. 
A.  W. :    I  get  an  impression  of  a  Jonas.    Also  of  a 
Sarah  connected  with  him.    She  died  since  him. 

[I  had  a  great-uncle  Jonas,  who  died  in  1898. 
He  had  a  niece  Sarah,  who  died  some  years  later. 
She  was  his  sister's  daughter,  and  was  my  aunt.] 
I  get  the  name  Dunlop.     Doctor;  medical  doctor. 
Old  times. 

[A  Dr.  Dunlop  lived  at  Dunlop  House,  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  here,  dying  or  re- 
moving probably  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.     I  re- 
member my  father  used  to  talk  of  him;  he  was 
before  my  time.] 
There  is  a  man  behind  you.     Armitage  or  Hermi- 
tage.   Arthur.    Thirty-five  to  forty  years  old.     Dead. 
[I  knew  an  Arthur  Armitage  who  died  about 
1902,  probably  aged  thirty-five  or  thirty-six.    But 
the  acquaintance  was  of  the  slightest.     I  am  not 
sure  that  I  ever  spoke  to  him,  but  I  knew  him 
well  by  sight,  as  I  am  sure  he  knew  me,  for  I 
passed  his  shop  frequently.    I  know  no  reason  why 
he  should  appear  at  my  sitting.] 
I  get  the  name  Leather.     Old  man,  very  gentle- 
manly; rather  retiring.     I  hesitate  to  say  the  name; 
never  heard  it  before  as  a  name;  it  only  means  boots, 
etc.,  to  me. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      73 

[I  knew  a  Mr.  Leather  very  well,  and  the  de- 
scription fits  him  exactly.     It  happens  that  I  met 
him  mostly  at  whist  evenings  at  Dunlop  House — 
long  after  Dr.   Dunlop's  time, — a  doctor  living 
there  who  was  more  or  less  a  friend  of  mine  as 
well  as  of  Mr.  Leather.     That  was  in  1893  and 
for  a  few  years  afterwards,  but  certainly  not  ex- 
tending later  than  1897.     If  Mr.  Leather  wanted 
to  remind  me  of  himself  and  of  shared  experiences, 
he  would  be  likely  to  mention  the  Thursday  eve- 
nings at  Dunlop  House.] 
Clairvoyance  ended.     I  may  here  mention  that  I 
never  visited  Dunlop  House  after  my  friend  left  it, 
about  the  year  1896;  nor,  I  feel  sure,  did  Mr.  Leather. 
It  no  longer  exists  as  a  house,  for  it  was  divided  and 
made  into  cottages  within  two  or  three  years  after 
my  friend's  removal.     (See  Chapter  II.) 

Extract  from  letter  dated  Bournemouth^  November 
\%th^  1914,  from  Mr.  Wilkinson  to  J,  A.  H. 

By  the  way,  did  you  ever  know  someone  named 
"Parrbury,"  or  some  such  name?  I  am  impressed  it 
would  be  a  very  old  gentleman  you  might  have  known ; 
however,  I  get  the  feeling  while  I  am  holding  your 
letter.  He  was  a  man  who  retained  his  faculties  in 
a  large  measure  till  the  end  of  life  almost.  I  am  not 
sure,  but  I  feel  perhaps  he  was  called  Robert,  but  of 
that  I  could  not  be  too  sure:  the  other  name,  how- 
ever, being  so  uncommon  that  I  thought  I  would  tell 
it  to  you.  He  evidently  is  keenly  interested  in 
you.  ... 

[On  reading  this  I  thought  it  was  meaningless. 


74  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

But  when  I  told  my  sister  she  remarked  that  Mr. 
Leather's  name  was  Robert  Parrbury  Leather 
(spelling  of  second  word  uncertain).  I  knew  he 
was  Robert  P.  Leather,  and  may  have  known 
the  middle  name,  but  if  so,  I  had  forgotten  it.  On 
November  2ist,  1914,  after  enquiry,  I  found  that 
the  name  was  Robert  Parberry  Leather.] 

SITTING  2 

Monday^  December   \\tli^    1914?  2.30  to  4.30  p.m. 
Present^  J.  A.  H.  and  medium  {Mr,  A.  Wilkinson) 

In  preliminary  conversation  I  told  Mr.  Wilkinson 
that  the  Parrbury  of  a  recent  letter  of  his  to  me  had 
meaning,  and  he  then  said  that  when  he  wrote  that 
letter  he  felt  that  "Parrbury"  was  waiting  for  some 
old  friend  to  pass  over.  I  remarked :  "Very  good  and 
true;  an  old  friend  was  dying."  The  facts  are  that 
Henry  Drayton,  the  brother-in-law  and  lifelong  friend 
of  Robert  Parberry  Leather,  died  on  November  29th, 
1914,  aged  eighty-nine.  Wilkinson  (as  we  have  seen) 
wrote  the  letter  about  "Parrbury"  eleven  days  before 
— on  the  18th. 

My  mind  being  occupied  more  or  less  with  these 
men,  I  expected  some  appearance  of  one  or  other  of 
them  at  the  sitting;  but,  as  the  following  record  shows, 
no  mention  of  either  of  them  was  made.  Perhaps  they 
have  now  gone  on  together. 

After  further  general  talk  the  medium  said  : 

I  get  the  feeling  of  a  Helen — spelt  with  an  H. 
[A.   W.   pronounced   the   word   again,   aspirating   it 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      7; 

strongly.]      It  is  Helen  Torringham,  or  some  such 
name. 

[A.  W.  seemed  uncertain  about  the  ending.     I 
supplied  "Torrington,"  having  known  many  people 
of  that  name.     He  accepted  it,   remarking  that 
he  knew  some  Torringhams;  hence,  perhaps,  his 
mistake.  ] 
Middle-aged  or  rather  more;  portly  figure,  been  de- 
ceased a  good  many  years,  and  the  form  I  see  is  very 
ethereal.     She  moves  behind  your  chair.     She  moves 
about  a  good  deal,  and  I  feel  that  she  is  looking  for 
someone  who  is  not  here.     She  has  something  on  her 
head,  I  cannot  see  what;  all  is  so  thin.     A  shrewd 
woman. 

[All  correct  for  a  Mrs.  Torrington,  if  the  Chris- 
tian name  is  right.  I  have  no  recollection  of  what 
it  was,  but  will  ascertain.    She  died  in  1896. 

(Later — December  22nd,  1914.  I  have  en- 
quired, and  find  that  Helen  is  correct.) 

She  usually  wore  a  white  lace  cap  on  her  head, 
indoors.  The  description  is  correct  in  every  detail, 
except  perhaps  age.  She  died  at  about  sixty-five. 
(Note. — ^April  14th,  1916.  But  A.  W.  calls  people 
"middle-aged"  up  to  sixty  or  more.  He  has  said 
so,  specifically,  in  a  later  sitting,  April  12th,  1916, 
referring — curiously  enough — to  a  reappearance  of 
this  same  person.)  She  was  no  relation,  but  I 
knew  the  whole  family  intimately;  the  son  was 
a  chum  of  mine,  and  a  daughter  of  hers  had  called 
two  days  before  the  sitting,  apparently  leaving  her 
influence.  No  doubt  it  was  for  her  that  Mrs. 
Torrington  was  looking.  The  latter  had  a  char- 
acteristic way  of  emphasising  her  aspirates,  speak- 


76  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

ing  very  deliberately.  I  often  used  to  notice  this.] 
Now  there  is  a  very  old  lady,  of  rather  low  stature, 
standing  by  the  couch  end,  looking  at  you.  Hair  very 
grey,  and  done  over  the  forehead  like  this  [indicating 
with  two  forefingers  two  curved  lines  from  centre  of 
upper  part  of  forehead  to  the  temples].  Face  drawn 
and  old,  but  nice.  Wide  dress,  very  full;  pleated — 
a  good  dress.  Rather  a  proud  old  person.  Name 
Mary.    Quite  old,  close  on  eighty. 

[All    correct    for   my    maternal    grandmother, 
Mary   Hey,   who  died   March   2 1st,    1890,   aged 
eighty-one.    There  was  no  photograph  of  her  in  the 
room,  and  I  have  never  talked  to  Mr.  Wilkinson 
about  my  deceased  relatives.    I  have  no  belief  that 
he  has  any  normally-acquired  knowledge  of  any  of 
them.  ] 
Helen  is  still  here,  but  she  has  nothing  to  do  with 
Mary;  they  go  apart  to  show  that  they  are  not  con- 
nected.   Helen  is  looking  about  for  someone  not  here ; 
someone  she  would  like  to  speak  to.    She  was  a  woman 
with  will,  "plenty  about  her,"  as  we  say  in  Yorkshire. 
[Correct;    and   true   that   she   and   my   grand- 
mother were  not  related.     But  they  knew  each 
other  in  life,   and  it  is  not  surprising  that  they 
appeared  together.] 
Mary  is  still  standing  there,  like  an  image,  looking 
at  you. 

A  voice  behind  me  says,  "Purcell."     A  man;  quite 
another  influence. 

[Several  years  ago  some  relatives  of  mine  named 
Purcell  lived  in  this  house.  But  they  are  still 
living.  Perhaps  an  ancestor  was  trying  to  com- 
municate.   See  sitting  of  June  5th,  1916.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      77 

There  is  a  Timothy  about;  I  don't  know  whether 
it  is  Purcell  or  not. 

I  get  Benjamin  Torrington.  Helen  and  Benjamin 
had  some  association.     Benjamin  was  an  old  man. 

[Timothy  unrecognised.    Benjamin  Torrington, 
Helen's  husband,   died  about   1901,   aged  nearly 
eighty.] 
There  is  a  funny  smell.    Have  you  known  somebody 
who  kept  a  drug-shop?     I  smell  all  kinds  of  concoc- 
tions, as  in  a  drug-shop. 

[I  learnt  a  fortnight  after  the  sitting  that  Ben- 
jamin Torrington's  father,  who,  I  suppose,  would 
be  dead  before  my  time,  had  kept  a  druggist's 
shop,  so  Benjamin  would  be  in  that  atmosphere 
until  he  married.] 
The  old  lady  is  dying  away  gradually.  Prim  old 
person. 

I  feel  as  if  I  were  in  a  drug-shop. 
Somebody  here  called  Purcell,  an  old  man.    Might 
be  Timothy;  not  sure. 

Have  you  known  somebody  called  Walker*?  Had 
you  visitors  yesterday  or  Saturday?  Some  influence 
is  left. 

At  some  time  or  other  you  had  acquaintances  called 
Walker. 

[But  the  medium  seemed  uncertain  about  the 
last  syllable,  so  I  remarked  "Walkley,  perhaps." 
Friends  of  ours  thus  named  lived  near,  from  1883 
to  1900.  One  died  in  1898  or  1899,  another  in 
1900.  No  relatives  of  theirs,  or  anyone  of  that 
name,  so  far  as  I  know,  remain  in  this  district. 
They  were  well  known  to  my  grandmother  and 
to  the  Torringtons.] 


78  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Have  you  had  anybody  called  James  Bannister  con- 
nected with  you  *?  I  feel  old-fashioned,  about  my  neck. 
Shirt.  A  big,  powerful  man.  [Gets  up,  squares 
shoulders,  standing  erect.]  This  goes  back  a  long 
number  of  years;  before  this  place  was  built.  [House 
is  twenty-five  years  old.]  Your  people  have  been 
farmers.  Somebody  belonging  to  your  mother  been 
farmers. 

[James  Bannister  is  unrecognised;  but  my 
father's  paternal  grandmother  was  a  Bannister  be- 
fore marriage,  and  James  might  be  a  brother  or 
her  father.  I  am  trying  to  trace  my  Bannister 
ancestors,  but  it  is  difficult.  My  father  was  named 
Bannister  Hill,  after  them.  My  mother's  father 
owned  two  farms  at  one  time,  though  he  was 
hardly  a  farmer.  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
there  were  farmers  farther  back.  ] 
Some  man  named  Driver  here.    Funny  name. 

[Unrecognised.     I  know  some  living  Drivers 
slightly.  ] 
I  get  the  name  Ishmael.    There  is  quite  a  circle,  but 
all  is  mixed  up.    I  feel  among  a  farming  class. 

[Ishmael  Ogden  was  my  maternal  grandmother's 

brother.     I  do  not  know  whether  he  was  a  farmer 

or  not.    I  never  knew  him.  ] 

James  Bannister  again.     Something  to  do  with  a 

quarry.     Lot  of  stone  and  flags    [flagstones]    about. 

Long  time  back. 

[Likely  enough,  for  my  grandfather,  John  Hill, 

was  a  quarry  owner  and  stone  merchant,  and,  as 

said,  his  mother  was  a  Bannister  before  marriage.] 

I  feel  all  the  accompaniments  of  a  quarry — horses, 

wagons. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      79 

(End  of  clairvoyance.) 

During  the  sitting  the  medium  had  kept  pencil  and 
paper  in  front  of  him  on  the  table,  and  occasionally 
wrote  a  few  words.  These  were  found  to  be  "Benja- 
min Torrington"  and  "Ishmael." 

Wilkinson  gets  at  the  length  of  time  that  has  elapsed 
since  death  partly  by  a  direct  impression  or  intuition, 
and  partly  by  the  solidity  or  thinness  of  the  form. 
But  it  is,  apparently,  chiefly  intuitional,  for  though 
Helen  Torrington  was  so  ethereal  that  he  could  hardly 
see  her,  he  did  not  place  her  a  long  way  back  in  time. 
She  died,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  1896;  my  grandmother, 
he  said,  was  solid  and  lifelike — he  could  see  her  eyes 
and  every  detail.  Yet  she  died  in  1890.  It  rather 
looks  as  if  the  solidity  or  thinness  of  a  form  indicates 
the  stage  of  progress  of  that  spirit,  for  I  should  say  that 
though  both  Mrs.  Torrington  and  my  grandmother 
were  shrewd  and  able  women  in  a  material  sense,  and 
about  equal  in  intellect,  the  former  was  the  more  spir- 
itual of  the  two,  and  she  may  accordingly  have  pro- 
gressed farther  away  from  earth  conditions. 


SITTING  3 

Friday^  January  15/^,  1915.  Present^  J.  A.  H., 
medium  (Mr.  A.  Wilkinson)^  and  Mr,  Trevor  for 
a  few  minutes. 

About  five  minutes  after  the  medium's  arrival,  and 
;  while  we  were  talking  about  ordinary  things,  an  un- 
expected and  infrequent  visitor  called:  Mr.  Trevor, 
^  vicar  of  a  parish  not  far  away.  He  came  in  for  ten 
minutes  and  I  introduced  him  by  name.    Immediately 


8o  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

after  his  departure  Wilkinson  said:  "What  did  you 
say  that  man's  name  was?"  I  told  him,  and  he  re- 
marked: "I  thought  I  heard  somebody  say  'King'; 
a  shadow,  older  than  him,  and  not  so  tall — a  faint 
outline  or  phantom — seemed  to  come  out  of  him." 

Mr.  Trevor's  predecessor  in  the  vicariate  of  his  par- 
ish was  named  King.  He  died  in  1909,  aged  sixty- 
four.  Mr.  Trevor  is  under  fifty,  and  taller  than  Mr. 
King  was.  Mr.  Trevor's  waistcoat  indicated  his  voca- 
tion, but  I  do  not  think  that  he  or  his  predecessor  was 
known  to  the  medium,  either  by  sight  or  by  name.  I 
have  good  reason  for  believing  that  Wilkinson  has 
never  been  in  that  particular  church — which  is  many 
miles  from  his  home — and  not  often  even  in  the  parish. 

After  a  few  minutes'  silence,  Wilkinson  continued: 

There  is  a  man  there  by  the  bookcase,  right-hand 
corner;  very  old  man,  big,  full  features.  Been  gone 
some  time;  old-fashioned  shirt,  white,  very  clean. 
Elias  Sidney.  [Medium  took  paper  and  pencil  and 
wrote  "Elias  Sidney."]  Politics  interested  him;  rather 
a  strong  politician,  Radical  or  strong  Liberal.  Been 
dead  some  time.  Somebody  brought  him,  somebody 
on  the  other  side,  who  has  manifested  here  before. 
Not  lived  here.  Good  colour  in  his  face.  There  is 
somebody  behind  him,  and  he  shadows  him.  Had  to 
do  with  Liberals.  Rather  heavy  on  his  feet. 
[Unrecognised.] 

Have  you  been  connected  with  anyone  called 
Young?  Old  man,  straight,  grey  hair,  nice  old  gentle- 
man. He  has  a  hymn-book  in  his  hand;  looks  like  a 
chapel  hymn-book. 

[Couldn't  remember  anybody  at  the  moment. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      81 

but  thought  of  several  living  Youngs  well  known 
to  me.] 
Sidney   appears   again;  somebody   brought   him — 
some  spirit. 

I  feel  as  if  somebody  took  me  on  a  train,  not  a  long 
way.  To  Bradford,  then  train  to  some  place,  hilly, 
where  there  is  a  big  building.  I  go  very  quickly  to 
this  place,  very  large  place  on  a  hill,  workhouse  or 
prison.  Asylum  place ;  asylum. 
I  do  feel  moidered. 

You  don't  know  anybody  at  Menston?     Some  in- 
fluence takes  me  in  that  direction.    I  don't  get  into  the 
asylum.     I  feel  big,  tall,  strong,  a  young  influence. 
Train,  railway,  feeling  of  backwards  and  forwards,  on 
a  railway.     Menston  is  not  far  from  Bradford,  is  it? 
[W.  knows  of  the  large  asylum  at  Menston,  of 
course.    Young  man  unrecognised.    Later :    I  have 
found  indications  of  the  truth  of  this,  but  the 
matter  is  private.] 
Did  you  ever  know  a  Moses  Young? 

[I  said  I  believed  so — not  sure.  I  now  find,  on 
asking  a  relative,  that  the  father  of  a  local  Young 
known  to  me  was  named  Moses.  I  knew  him  when 
I  was  a  boy;  he  went  to  the  same  chapel.  The 
hymn-book  is  perhaps  a  reminder  of  this.  His 
pew  was  very  prominently  in  front  of  me  as  I  sat 
in  the  choir,  and  he  would  be  continually  seeing 
me,  past  the  minister,  the  pulpit  being  nearly  be- 
tween us.  I  was  in  the  gallery,  he  in  the  area. 
No  relation  to  us.] 
There  is  a  woman  here  named  Mary  Bannister.  She 
is  not  very  tall.    I  see  her  hair;  it  stands  up  a  bit — 


82  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

a  bit  wiry;  she  is  rather  full  figure.    Been  dead  some 
time,  by  style  of  hair  dressing;  very  antique,  ancient. 
[My  father's  paternal  grandmother  was  Mary 
Bannister  before  marriage.    I  know  nothing  of  her 
personal  appearance.] 
Sidney  comes  and  goes.     Enthusiast  at  politics. 
There   is  somebody  with  Mary   Bannister  named 
Jowett,  a  man,  with  peculiar  leggings  on,  kind  of  boots, 
long  ones,  very  big  ones;  no  hair  on  lips  or  chin,  but 
whiskers  sticking  out  at  sides,  very  old-fashioned  man, 
big,  old.    A  very  long  way  back.    He  lived  in  a  very 
country  place. 

[Unrecognised;  but  I  believe  there  is  a  Jowett 
strain  in  us,  some  way  back.] 
There  is  a  young  man,  rather  tall,  nicely  built, 
moustache,  rather  weird,  intent  look — a  bit  wild,  be- 
wildered; age  twenty-five  or  twenty-six,  biggish  man. 
Looks  strange,  as  if  he  had  been  lost.  A  motionless 
image,  steady  gaze. 

[Unrecognised.    Later:  but  see  sittings  of  June 
5th  and  August  2nd,  1916.] 
Sidney  got  excited  when  discussing  politics. 
There  are  a  lot  of  men  about  you  [i.e.  J.  A.  H.] — 
oldish  men.     That  woman,  Mary  Bannister,  had  a 
curious,  old-fashioned  dress.    It  stood  out.    Have  you 
known  a  lady,  who  died  in  middle  life,  named  Han- 
son ^    She  would  be  ill  some  time.    Interested  in  school 
life — I  feel  as  if  she  moved  in  a  school  atmosphere. 
Something  to   do   with   a   school,    very   nice-looking 
woman,  much  afflicted  before  death. 
[Unrecognised. 

Later:    But  see  sitting  of  April  19th,  1916.] 
There  is  a  face  over  you,  pale,  rather  small  features. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      83 

Head  and  shoulders.  Serious  look  on  face,  but  slight 
smile;  name  Mary.  Face  like  marble  just  here  [touch- 
ing cheeks  near  mouth].  Right  over  your  head,  builds 
up  over  you;  over  sixty  by  the  look  of  her,  but  not 
an  old  woman.     Delicate.    Inclined  to  be  religious. 

[True  of  my  mother  except  that  she  was  only 
fifty-four   at  death — but  she   looked   older — and 
had  not  been  a  particularly  delicate  woman,  though 
always  pale   and   thin.      W.   has   described   and 
named  her  before.     See  my  New  'Evidences, \ 
When  you  were  a  little  boy  did  you  know  a  tallish 
woman  who  had  a  wooden  leg  or  a  false  foot*?    Tall, 
thin  woman;  thumps  with  her  foot.     Elderly.     Thud 
every  time  her  foot  goes  down.    Been  associated  with 
you  in  your  childhood  days. 
[Unrecognised. 

Later:    See  note  at  end  of  this  sitting,  also  sit- 
ting of  April  12th,  1916,  in  which  the  same  person 
reappears.] 
You  remember  me  seeing  an  old  man  here  before 
— I  can't  remember  his  name.     [Here  W.  seemed  ex- 
cited and  eager,  so  I  suggested   "Leather."]      Yes, 
Leather.     It  is  Mr.  Leather  who  has  brought  Elias 
Sidney.     They  were  cronies;  they  were  cronies.     [W. 
laughs.]     Sidney  has  been  passed  away  longer  than 
Mr.  Leather. 

A  girl  moves  towards  the  bed.  About  fifteen  years 
old.  Tall,  pale  girl,  lot  of  hair,  beautiful,  pale  fea- 
tures. Slender,  graceful.  Hair  not  "up."  Something 
in  her  hand — looks  like  music,  copy  of  music.  Been 
gone  some  time.  Somebody  is  in  this  house  that  she 
has  known.  Subtle ;  I  can  nearly  see  through  her  form. 
Name  Purcell,  I  think. 


84  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

[Unrecognised,  but  must  make  inquiries.  I 
have  an  aunt  who  married  a  Purcell,  and  Wilkin- 
son has  got  this  name  before,  so  there  is  probably 
some  sense  in  it. 

Later :  Cannot  make  anything  out.  If  a  Chris- 
tian name  had  been  got,  I  might  have  found  some 
application.] 
There  is  a  man  by  the  side  of  you,  looking  down  at 
you.  He  has  a  sort  of  long  pinafore  on;  prime  of  life, 
about  forty  or  forty-two,  nicely  built,  moustache,  no 
beard,  the  pinafore  is  soiled  and  dirty.  Died  sud- 
denly; his  death  was  a  surprise  to  all  who  knew  him. 
He  had  something  to  do  with  someone  you  [J.  A.  H.] 
know  intimately.  There  was  some  sort  of  special 
trouble  when  he  died;  of  course,  death  always  causes 
sorrow  to  those  left,  but  in  this  case  there  was  some 
sort  of  special  trouble.  He  was  not  related  to  you, 
but  there  is  some  connexion.  I  see  a  lot  of  steps  which 
run  up;  a  warehouse.  Funny  smell — musty.  I  think 
the  man  must  have  been  a  wool-sorter.  Died  very  sud- 
denly.   No  machinery  about.    Warehouse. 

[Unrecognised.  But  my  Purcell  relatives  are  in 
the  wool  trade,  so  I  must  inquire  of  them. 

Wool-sorters  wear  a  sort  of  pinafore,  known 
locally  as  a  "checker  brat,"  and  this  gets  very  dirty 
in  front. 

Later :    My  relatives  do  not  recognise  him.    But 
the  warehouse,  steps,  smell,  and  wool  are  signifi- 
cant, and  if  a  name  could  be  got  it  might  recall  the 
man.] 
The  girl  has  some  connexion  with  your  family,  a 
good  way  back.    Her  hair  looks  fair,  sandy,  her  form 
is  very  subtle;  might  be  dead  before  your  time,  but 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      85 

perhaps  some  living  person  could  tell.    In  your  family 
circle. 

That  girl  lived  near  a  quarry :  I  see  flags  and  stones. 
She  is  very  attractive.  Has  not  manifested  here  be- 
fore.   Long  gone. 

There  is  a  man,  Jonathan  Ainsworth.  Big  man, 
tremendous.  [W.  stood  up  and  seemed  half  under 
control.]  I  do  feel  big,  as  if  I  nearly  touched  the 
ceiling.  He  and  a  John  Hey  collaborated.  An  old 
gentleman.  Ainsworth  not  so  old  as  Hey.  Yewton  is 
to  do  with  Hey.  [W.  spelt  it,  tentatively,  but  seemed 
at  a  loss  or  confused,  thinking  it  was  a  man's  name.] 
Hey  and  Ainsworth  had  to  do  with  Yewton.  I  see 
a  barn. 

[Here  I  interposed  to  help,  saying:  "Yewton 
is  a  farm,  not  a  man."  John  Hey  was  my  maternal 
grandfather.  He  once  had  two  farms  near  Yew- 
ton, and  his  daughter  still  owns  one  of  them.  I 
think  its  land  adjoins  Yewton.  They  are  across 
the  valley,  a  mile  or  two  from  here.  I  know  of 
no  connexion  of  my  grandfather's  with  Yewton 
itself,  and  Ainsworth  is  unrecognised,  but  I  will 
inquire  about  him  through  my  aunt,  John  Hey's 
daughter. 

Later:  January  22nd,  1915.  My  aunt  says 
that  she,  and  her  father,  John  Hey,  knew  a  Jona- 
than Hainsworth  who  hawked  tea  a  long  time  ago. 
But  he  was  short  and  bent,  and  had  no  special 
connexion  with  John  Hey  or  with  Yewton,  so  far 
as  she  knows.  He  was  an  old  man,  and  probably 
died  long  before  my  grandfather  Hey,  who  died 
in  1889.] 
Woman  with  foot  wrong  walks  past  again.     Tall, 


86  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

thin.  Old-fashioned  mantle  she  has  on.  It  is  the  right 
foot  that  goes  down  with  a  thump.  [Medium  got 
up  and  walked,  imitating  her,  as  if  with  a  short  right 
leg  or  a  wooden  leg.  ] 

School,  woman  named  Hanson.  I  see  desks,  scholars. 
[Unrecognised. 

Later:    See  sitting  of  April  19th,  1916.] 
What  a  lot  of  Marys  there  are  about  you!     I  get 
mixed  among  them. 

[My  mother  and  both  grandmothers  were  named 
Mary,  also  a  great-grandmother.] 
I  wonder  who  that  poor  young  man  can  be? 

[Apparently  the  one  who  looked  wild.] 
I  suppose  somebody  lived  here  before  you?     This 
is  not  a  new  house. 

[It  is  about  twenty-five  years  old,  ahd  has  had 
several  tenants.] 
I  feel  as  if  I  were  in  a  warehouse.    Fusty  old  smell. 
Somebody  has  been  about  you  as  if  their  clothes  smell. 
No  machinery.    Warehouse. 

Benjamin:  male  side  of  you.    Some  men  getting  on 
in  years ;  tall. 

[Unrecognised.] 
Here  the  medium  sat  back  and  apparently  could 
get  nothing  more.  He  had  been  at  it  for  nearly  an 
hour.  (In  this  Report  I  am  compelled  to  omit  some 
good  evidence  involving  other  people.)  I  got  most 
of  it  down  verbatim,  though  once  or  twice  he  went 
too  fast  and  I  missed  a  few  words.  Between  each 
burst,  so  to  speak,  he  is  silent,  or  muttering  abstract- 
edly, "m ,  m ,"  but  gives  the  impression  of 

intense  listening^  a  tense  concentration,  not  merely  of 
listening  with  his  ears,  but  with  all  of  him.    It  is  diffi- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      87 

cult  to  describe  this,  for  intense  effort  seems  incom- 
patible with  passivity;  but  nevertheless  there  is  some- 
how a  combination  of  the  two.  I  have  noticed  it 
before,  but  never  so  markedly  as  in  this  sitting — e.g. 
about  the  girl  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  I  said :  "Try  to  get 
her  name,"  and  he  said :  "I'm  trying" ;  and  his  intense 
effort  of  "listening,"  or  feeling,  or  reaching,  or,  strain- 
ing after  something  just  beyond  reach  and  beyond 
audibility,  was  particularly  noticeable. 

I  told  him  very  little  about  how  far  he  was  correct, 
but  said  I  recognised  Mary  Bannister.  He  would  see 
that  several  of  them  were  unknown  to  me,  and  prob- 
ably this  led  him  to  wonder  whether  they  belonged  to 
some  of  the  people  who  lived  here  before  us,  which 
indeed  is  probably  the  truth. 

Note:     February  5th,  1915.^ 

I  asked  a  relative  who  is  a  local  Liberal  worker 
and  business  man  whether  the  name  Elias  Sidney  was 
known  to  him.  He  said:  "No."  I  told  him  why  I 
asked,  and  gave  him  the  details  of  what  Wilkinson  had 
said;  but  they  stirred  no  recollections — he  did  not 
remember  ever  hearing  of  the  man  or  the  name  before. 
He  said,  however,  that  he  thought  he  could  ascertain 
whether  such  a  man  had  existed,  by  asking  some  old 
Bradford  Liberal. 

To-day,  February  5th,  1915,  he  called  and  informed 
me  that  he  has  made  inquiries  in  the  town,  and  has 
found  a  man  who  knew  Elias  Sidney  very  well  indeed; 

*In  what  follows,  and  in  other  places,  there  is  some  repetition  of 
matter  which  has  appeared  in  the  earlier  chapters;  but  I  think  the 
critical  reader  will  wish  to  see  my  notes  exactly  as  made  at  the  time, 
so  I  reproduce  them  fully.  They  are  sometimes  instructive  by  showing 
the  difficulty  I  had  in  verifying  certain  statements  of  the  medium ;  and 
this  difficulty  has  a  bearing  on  the  evidential  aspect,  since — gener- 
ally— what  I  found  it  difficult  to  verify,  the  medium  is  proportionally 
unlikely  to  have  known  normally. 


88  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

that  he  died  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  but  had  long  been 
retired  from  public  life,  being  a  very  old  man;  and 
that  he  (Sidney)  was  one  of  a  coterie  of  friends — all 
vigorous  politicians  on  the  Liberal  side,  to  which  he 
(my  relative's  informant)  and  Mr,  Leather  belonged. 
Their  rendezvous  was  a  certain  Liberal  Club. 

My  relative  did  not  tell  his  informant  why  he 
asked;  he  merely  asked  whether  he  had  ever  known 
an  Elias  Sidney. 

The  name  Elias  Sidney  still  sounds  quite  unfamiliar 
to  me,  and  if  I  did  not  know  a  good  deal  about  the  pos- 
sibilities of  subliminal  memory  I  should  be  prepared 
to  swear  that  I  had  never  heard  of  him.  Certainly  he 
cannot  have  been  a  prominent  man  in  any  way,  or  my 
relative  would  have  known  the  name;  for  he  has  been 
in  close  touch  with  leading  local  business  men  for 
thirty  years  (he  is  fifty),  and  also  with  local  politics. 

Note:    April  29th,  1916. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  a  gentleman  fairly  well 
known  to  me — ^professor  in  a  theological  college — 
might  have  known  Elias  Sidney,  so  I  wrote  and  asked 
him  a  week  ago.  To-day  I  have  seen  him;  he  knew 
Mr.  Sidney  well,  and  says  that  the  description  given 
by  the  medium  is  exact.  I  have  now  learnt  from  him, 
for  the  first  time,  where  Mr.  Sidney  lived;  the  town 
is  neither  Bradford — where  I  live — nor  Halifax — in 
an  out-district  of  which  the  medium  lives.  It  is  more 
distant  from  the  latter  than  from  the  former. 

May  3rd,  1916. — Yesterday  I  ascertained  that  Mr. 
Sidney  died  on  January  7th,  1909  (seven  weeks  before 
Mr.  Leather),  aged  eighty-three.  He  was  a  keen  poli- 
tician and  excitable;  went  to  a  certain  Liberal  Club 
every  day  when  well  enough,  for  many  years,  staying 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      89 

from  3  p.m.  till  about  7  p.m.  Mr.  Leather  went 
almost  daily  to  the  same  club,  at  about  the  same  time. 
I  have  seen  a  photograph  of  Mr.  Sidney,  and  the  de- 
scription fits.  I  cannot  find  that  the  medium  ever  goes 
to  the  small  town  where  Mr.  Sidney  lived  (I  have 
interviewed  people  who  live  there,  including  spiritual- 
ists, who  would  be  likely  to  know  if  he  did),  and  there 
seems  no  reason  to  believe  that  Mr.  Sidney  was  known 
to  him  even  by  name.  And,  in  particular,  it  is  in  the 
last  degree  unlikely  that  he  could  have  known  of  the 
association  of  Mr.  Sidney  and  Mr.  Leather  at  the 
Liberal  Club,  for  neither  my  friends  nor  I,  who  knew 
Mr.  Leather  fairly  intimately,  were  aware  of  it.  Nor 
can  he  reasonably  be  supposed  to  know  of  my  meeting 
Mr.  Leather  at  Dunlop  House.  The  most  rational 
theory  seems  to  be  that  the  surviving  mind  of  Mr. 
Leather  himself  was  in  operation. 

March  10th,  1916. — Mentioning  to  my  sister  an  old 
woman,  lame,  who  was  described  in  a  Wilkinson  sit- 
ting, she  said  it  reminded  her  of  Emma  Steeton.  I 
then  got  this  report,  and  read  to  her  the  two  para- 
graphs (pp.  83,  86)  about  the  lame  woman.  The 
description  certainly  fits,  so  far  as  we  remember. 
Emma  walked  with  a  heavy  limp,  owing  to  a  fall ;  we 
do  not  remember  which  leg  was  the  lame  one.  We 
think  she  had  not  a  wooden  leg  or  foot,  but  she  certainly 
walked  with  a  thump  on  one  foot.  She  was  a  near 
neighbour  of  ours  at  Roundfield  Place,  and  occasion- 
ally looked  after  us  children,  more  or  less,  if  our  par- 
ents were  our.  She  died  probably  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  ago;  no  relatives  left  that  we  know  of. 

(See  sitting  of  April  12th,  1916.)^ 


90  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Extract  from  letter  dated  Bournemouth^  October  1st, 
1915,  from  Mr,  Wilkinson  to  J,  A,  H. 

Just  when  closing  this  epistle  I  felt  as  if  some  old 
man  touched  me;  rather  a  gentleman;  and  he  made 
me  feel  a  bit  like  a  parson.  I  cannot  get  any  com- 
munication from  him  beyond  "A.  S.  W.,"  whatever 
that  means;  an  impression  I  get  is  that  you  might 
have  known  this  man  some  years  ago.  However,  it 
is  rather  vague.  When  I  tried  on  a  separate  paper 
I  could  only  get  the  letters  named. 

[The  initials  of  the  full  name  of  Mr.  Walkley, 
whose  name  was  apparently  groped  after  in  my 
sitting  of  December  14th,  1914,  were  A.  S.  W. 
He  was  a  parson,  and  was  a  "gentleman";  died 
1900;  had  left  this  district  some  months  before; 
no  relatives  of  his  remained;  I  have  no  reason  to 
think  that  Mr.  Wilkinson  has  ever  heard  of  him 
normally.  I  heard  Mr.  Walkley  preach  nearly 
every  Sunday  for  seventeen  years,  and  he  knew  me 
well.] 

SITTING  4 

Friday,  November  igtk,  1915.     Present,  Mr,  Frank 
Knight  and  medium. 

This  was  a  sitting  held  by  my  friend  Mr.  Knight 
(whose  experiences  are  described  in  my  New  Evidences 
in  Psychical  Research^  on  my  behalf,  at  his  home  in 
another  town,  with  the  medium  A.  Wilkinson.  What 
follows  is  a  copy  of  Mr.  Knight's  notes. 

Preliminarily  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  glove 
used  as  a  rapport-object  had  belonged  to  the  Mrs. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      91 

Napier  elsewhere  alluded  to  both  in  this  book  and  in 
New  Evidences,  This  is  a  pseudonym,  and  Mr. 
Knight  did  not  know  her  real  name  or  anything  about 
her  except  what  had  appeared  in  my  book.  She  had 
died  about  a  fortnight  before  the  sitting — on  Novem- 
ber 3rd,  1915. 

The  letter  mentioned  was  a  letter  of  mine  to  Mr. 
Knight,  received  by  him  on  the  morning  of  the  sitting. 
It  contained  no  information  about  my  relatives  or 
friends. 

[W.  placed  glove  to  face.] 

Glove  feels  very  cold  and  damp.  A  very  calm, 
tranquil  feeling,  notwithstanding  great  weakness.  Per- 
son had  a  lot  of  pain  in  her  breast.  Feel  as  if  I  must 
lie  in  a  bed  in  extreme  physical  weakness:  heart  or 
chest.  Very  calm  feeling,  ready  and  prepared  for 
everything.  This  is  as  someone  gone  to  sleep  and 
won't  waken — as  if  her  mind  was  slumbering.  Not 
yet  awake,  not  fully  conscious;  asleep,  not  able  to 
make  any  actual  demonstration. 

The  person  who  wore  it  had  much  pain  about  the 
heart.  Doesn't  appear  to  fully  understand  how  to 
reach  me. 

[Mrs.  N.  was  tranquil  and  prepared.  She  had 
much  pain  in  chest — growth  behind  breastbone — 
and  became  very  weak  owing  to  inability  to  take 
even  fluid  food  for  some  weeks.  She  had  an  opera- 
tion for  a  breast  tumour  in  1913,  and  the  doctors 
said  it  was  cancer,  but  she  was  not  told  this.  She 
also  had  obscure  heart  attacks — intermittency, 
without  valvular  disease — during  the  last  five  years 
or  so.] 
[From  the  letter.] 


92  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Impression  of  a  man  called  Ishmael  Hey.  Elderly 
gent,  some  time  back,  rather  big,  not  very  old,  old- 
fashioned  in  way  of  thinking. 

Someone  called  Sarah,  deceased,  age  not  obtainable. 

[Ishmael  Hey  is  unknown,  but  Ishmael  Ogden 

was  my  grandmother  Mary  Hey's  brother.    I  never 

knew  him.     Sarah  may  be  either  of  two  aunts  of 

mine.    Wilkinson  has  got  a  Sarah  for  me  before.] 

[Glove.] 

Feel  might  be  put  in  carriage  and  carried  some 
distance.  Of  opinion  the  subject  not  able  to  com- 
municate. 

[Mrs.  Napier  lived  and  died  over  a  hundred 
miles  from  where  the  sitting  was  taking  place.] 
[Letter.] 

Elderly  gentleman,  used  to  go  to  some  Anglican 
church,  something  to  do  with  that  letter. 

Some  woman,  Helen,  elderly,  silk  dress.  Man,  Tor- 
rington,  connected  with  Helen. 

Rather  a  big  man  about  sixty,  corpulent,  fresh-com- 
plexioned,  about  fifty-nine  or  sixty,  good-looking. 
Had  something  to  do  with  cloth  some  time,  rolls  of 
cloth  about. 

[Helen  and  the  man  Torrington  are  evidently 
Mrs.  and  Mr.  Torrington,  whose  names  and  de- 
scriptions Wilkinson  gave  me  at  my  sitting  of  De- 
cember 14th,  1914,  two  days  after  a  visit  of  their 
daughter,  whose  influence  seemed  to  have  attracted 
them  here.  I  feel  sure  that  Wilkinson  knows 
nothing  of  my  association  with  their  family.  It  is 
twenty  years  since  any  of  them  lived  in  Thornton. 
The  corpulent  man  may  be  my  father.  The 
description  is  correct  except  that  he  was  sixty-six 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      93 

at  death.     He  had  to  do  with  "rolls  of  cloth"  in 
his  working  days,  and  the  allusion  is  a  particularly 
apt  and  identifying  one.] 
[Glove.] 

Get  no  further:  feels  like  running  against  a  stone 
wall.  Wearer  been  more  than  ordinarily  thoughtful; 
serious  type  of  mind.  Will  give  anything  to  get 
further  impressions. 

[I.e.  I  suppose  he  was  expressing  his  strong  wish 
to  get  something  for  me.] 

SITTING  5 

Wednesday,  January  19/A,  1916.     Present,  J,  A,  H, 
and  medium  {Mr.  A,  Wilkinson^. 

After  ten  minutes'  talk  about  the  war — Wilkinson 
was  in  London  when  two  Zeppelin  raids  occurred — 
the  medium  said  he  had  tried  several  times,  at  home 
to  get  psychometry  from  the  glove  I  sent  him,  or 
messages  from  its  late  owner,  but  without  success. 
Once  he  had  a  vision  of  flowers,  and  smelt  flowers 
in  general,  but  that  was  all.  It  was  cornflowers  that 
he  saw. 

[She  used  to  send  me  flowers  nearly  every  week 
in  summer.  In  fact,  she  sent  me  more  flowers 
than  I  have  had  from  everybody  else  put  together, 
probably;  so  it  is  a  characteristic  touch.  But  I 
was  not  thinking  of  flowers  when  the  medium  said 
this.  I  do  not  know  whether  cornflowers  were 
special  favourites  of  hers;  she  sent  me  sweet-peas 
and  roses  mostly,  I  think.  It  is  roses  that  I  should 
most  naturally  think  of  in  connexion  with  her.] 


94  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

J.  A.  H. :    She  was  fond  of  flowers. 
[Pause.] 

A.  W. :  There  is  an  old  man  here,  big,  tall,  well 
built,  leans  forward,  bent  with  age.  Nearly  eighty. 
He  has  a  stick.  He  is  connected  with  you  through 
your  mother.  Name,  John.  Been  passed  away  a  good 
many  years.  Good  colour  in  his  face,  was  perhaps  out 
of  doors  a  lot.  Robust.  He  is  quite  a  real  presence 
to  me. 

J.  A.  H. :  My  grandfather.  [A.  W.  has  got  mes- 
sages from  him  before,  with  surname,  so  I  was  not 
giving  anything  away.    It  is  my  mother's  father.] 

A.  W. :     Indeed!     Some  folks  laugh  when  I  say  a 
John  is  here,  because  it  fits  in  for  nearly  everybody; 
but  I  have  to  say  what  I  get. 
[Pause.] 

There's  a  man  called  Jonas,  not  very  tall,  but  heavy. 
Old,  but  not  so  old  as  the  other  one. 

[Had  him  before;  probably  a  great-uncle  of 
mine,  Jonas  Ogden,  died  at  about  eighty.     He 
was  not  very  heavy,  though,  but  was  well  built.] 
[Pause.] 

There's  somebody  called  Lewis.  I  am  taken  away 
somewhere,  on  a  train.  Country  place;  up  and  down, 
rather  steep.  I  feel  I  was  taken  to  the  Bradford  Great 
Northern  station,  then  a  journey — not  far,  not  many 
stations.  I  come  to  a  house  where  there  is  someone 
linked  up  with  you.  Somebody  there  has  been  in 
trouble ;  something  which  cannot  be  helped ;  no  remedy 
but  Time.  Not  a  flat  place.  Houses  not  close  to- 
gether— a  bit  distant  from  each  other.  I  can't  get  into 
the  house.    Somebody  there  you  will  either  see  or  hear 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      95 

of.    Something  interesting  will  come  of  it.    You  will 
see  them,  I  think. 

[A  Mr.  Lewis  once  lived  about  a  mile  from 
here,   dying  in   1912.     I  knew  him  fairly  well, 
meeting  him  mostly  at  the  local  Mechanics'  In- 
stitute, where  I  played  an  occasional  game  of  bil- 
liards with  him.     His  widow  left  the  town,  soon 
after  his  death,   and  has  since  lived  at  a  place 
which  is  on  the  Great  Northern  line  from  Brad- 
ford, not  many  stations  away.    It  is  a  hilly  place, 
as  said,  and  there  are  many  detached  houses.    But 
we  are  not  in  any  close  way  "linked  up"  with  Mrs. 
Lewis.    I  have  not  seen  her  for  about  twelve  years. 
Mrs.   Lewis  has  grieved  greatly  about  her  hus- 
band's death.     It  is  very  improbable  that  I  shall 
see  her.     Wilkinson  said  I  should  either  "see  or 
hear  of"  the  person.] 
[Pause.] 
There  is  a  mind  trying  to  get  me  into  a  house  at 
that  place.     Something  happened  rather  tragic,  pain- 
ful.    Somebody  there  who  can't  get  it  out  of  their 
mind. 

[Mr.  Lewis  died  suddenly  of  heart  disease.  I 
believe  it  is  very  true  that  Mrs.  Lewis  cannot  get 
the  tragically  sudden  event  out  of  her  mind; 
though  he  had  been  ill  before,  his  disease  was 
known,  and  she  was  aware  that  he  might  go  sud- 
denly. 

This  Lewis  evidence  is  very  impressive  to  me. 
I  had  not  been  thinking  about  either  Mr.  or  Mrs. 
Lewis.  I  have  nothing  in  the  house  that  ever 
belonged  to  either  of  them,  and  I  do  not  believe 
that  Wilkinson  normally  knows  anything  about 


96  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

them.  Psychometry  and  mind-reading  do  not 
seem  to  me  good  explanations  of  this  incident; 
the  spirit  explanation  seems  much  more  reason- 
able. Mr.  Lewis  had  few  friends,  and  he  knew 
me  probably  as  well  as  anybody  except  one  or  two 
other  local  men,  and  I  should  quite  expect  him  to 
give  me  a  look  in,  if  able,  when  a  medium  is  here, 
though  I  had  never  thought  of  him  before  in  this 
connexion  till  Wilkinson  said  "Lewis."  I  never 
talked  to  him  about  psychical  things,  for  at  that 
time  I  knew  nothing  about  them;  so  I  have  never 
associated  him  with  the  subject. 

Later:  September  13th,  1916. — To-day,  after 
a  chain  of  antecedently  improbable  events,  Mrs. 
Lewis  has,  been  here  for  the  first  time,  to  tea,  and 
I  saw  her  for  a  few  minutes.  The  medium's  pre- 
diction, which  at  the  time  seemed  wildly  unlikely, 
is  thus  fulfilled.  I  cannot  give  all  the  details  of 
events  leading  up  to  this,  lest  identities  of  living 
people  should  be  disclosed;  but  I  may  say  that 
the  initiative  did  not  come  from  us — there  seems 
to  have  been  a  Mr.  Lewis  agency  impressing  the 
mind  of  his  widow.] 

[After  a  few  minutes'  silence,  I  gave  A.  W.  a 
small  silver  box  which  had  belonged  to  the  glove- 
owner,  and,  before  that,  to  a  close  male  connexion 
of  hers  who  predeceased  her ;  in  fact,  her  husband.  ] 
A.  W. :     I  feel  rather  buoyant — exhilarated — with 
this.    Nothing  depressing.    The  other  person  may  have 
got  away.     [Perhaps  in  reference  to  the  glove  yielding 
nothing.]     Sense  of  leaving  a  man  behind,  in  the  body. 
J.  A.  H. :    She  was  a  widow. 
A.  W. :    There  seems  a  man  in  the  case. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      97 

J.  A.  H. :    The  box  belonged  to  her  husband. 

[Pause.] 
A.  W. :  Have  you  known  somebody  called  Tranter*? 
J.  A.  H.:  Yes. 

A.  W. :  A  woman  called  Tranter.    Do  you  know  any 
Percy  Tranter? 
J.  A.  H.:No. 

[Not  striking,  but  it  is  perhaps  worth  noting 
that  a  few  days  before  the  sitting  we  had  a  caller, 
a  cousin's  wife,  who  calls  very  rarely — ^not  once 
a  year — and  who  knew  the  Tranters  better  than 
we  did.  They  lived  at  a  farm  next  my  cousin's, 
but  are  no  longer  there.  It  has  happened  before, 
more  than  once,  that  spirits  connected  with  some 
recent  caller  have  purported  to  turn  up.] 
A.  W.:  You  never  hear  raps,  perhaps*? 
J.  A.  H.:    No. 

A.  W. :  There  is  something  I  can't  break  through, 
like  a  net.  [Handling  glove  and  box  abstractedly.] 
Have  you  a  friend  called  Drayton? 
J.  A.  H. :  I  know  some  Draytons. 
A.  W. :  You  will  have  a  visitor  called  Drayton. 
He  has  to  do  with  some  kind  of  work  that  smells 
funny.    Nothing  to  do  with  this  box. 

[Unrecognised.    I  have  no  regular  Drayton  vis- 
itors.    But  I  think  this  is  a  misinterpreted  fore- 
gleam  of  what  follows.    The  "visitor"  was  coming 
in  the  spirit,  not  in  the  body.  ] 
There  is  a  very  old  man — he  has  a  job  to  stand  up. 
Tottering  with  age.    There  are  two  old  men  together; 
neither  of  the  men  I  saw  before.    Little,  bent  with  age, 
white  front;  another  little  old  man  with  him.    Broth- 
ers  or   friends.      Henry    and   Robert.      Don't   know 


98  PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

whether  they  were  brothers  or  not.  Henry  is  older 
than  the  other.  They  knew  each  other  very  well. 
Robert's  face  is  smoother,  not  so  lined.  They  are 
chums.  Perhaps  brothers.  Robert  predeceased  the 
other.  I  don't  think  Henry  has  been  long  gone.  Some- 
body called  Whitley  is  connected  with  Henry;  lives  a 
long  way  from  here.  A  woman,  not  well;  belongs 
to  Henry.  She  is  called  Whitley.  She  has  some- 
thing belonging  to  the  old  man.  He  liked  his  own 
way;  a  bit  dogmatic.  Robert  was  rather  milder. 
Henry  had  a  lot  of  his  own  way.  He  is  very  much 
surprised  about  things  now.  Robert  was  a  bit  younger ; 
nice  old  man;  jolly.  They  had  lots  in  common,  though 
there  was  great  difference.  Perhaps  difference  in  po- 
sition.    They're  alike  now  in  that  respect. 

[I  think  the  last  sentence  was  mostly  W.'s  nor- 
mal mind,  for  as  he  said  it  he  looked  up  at  me 
and  smiled,  momentarily  losing  his  "absent"  man- 
ner. When  getting  impressions  he  seems  to  be 
looking  at  nothing  in  particular,  though  he  some- 
times locates  a  spirit  if  it  is  specially  clear.  While 
waiting  for  impressions,  he  often  puts  his  hand 
over  his  eyes,  elbow  on  chair-arm. 

Except  that  they  were  not  "little"  when  I  knew 
them — though  they  probably  became  more  shrunk- 
en later — all  this  is  exactly  true  of  Henry  Dray- 
ton and  Robert  P.  Leather.  They  were  broth- 
ers-in-law, great  chums,  and  lived  near  each  other. 
Mr.  Drayton  died  in  1914,  November  29th,  aged 
eighty-nine;  Mr.  Leather  died  February  22nd, 
1909,  aged  eighty- four.  It  is  a  rather  notable 
thing  that  though  Mr.  Drayton  had  five  daughters, 
the  only  one  we  have  much  of  a  link  with  is  Mrs. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS      99 

Whitley,  for  her  husband's  uncle  married  my  great- 
aunt.  If  Mr.  Drayton  were  here,  thinking  about 
my  family  in  general  and  his  own  daughters,  it 
would  be  Mrs.  Whitley  he  would  think  of  more 
particularly;  though  this  fact,  and  the  connexion 
by  marriage,  did  not  occur  to  me  until  after  the 
sitting. 

The  description  of  Mr.  Drayton's  salient  points 
of  character  is  excellent.  He  was  rather  impetu- 
ous and  masterful;  a  good  man,  but  certainly  his 
position  enabled  him  to  have  a  great  deal  of  "his 
own  way." 

Mr.  Leather  has  been  described  and  named  as 
"Leather — ^perhaps  Robert,"  by  Mr.  Wilkinson 
before,  and  at  a  sitting  on  December  14th,  1914, 
he  told  me,  referring  to  an  impression  about  which 
he  had  written  me  from  Bournemouth  on  Novem- 
ber 18th,  1914,  that  he  had  felt  that  the  man 
named  Parrbury  was  waiting  about  for  an  old 
friend  to  pass  over.  Mr.  Leather's  name  was  Rob- 
ert Parberry  Leather,  but  few  people  knew  his 
second  name;  I  didn't,  or  I  had  forgotten  it,  and 
had  to  make  inquiries.  At  the  time  of  the  medi- 
um's impression,  Mr.  Drayton  was  dying  of  senile 
decay,  passing  away  eleven  days  afterwards.  Mr. 
Leather  was  a  "nice  old  man,  jolly,"  as  said;  he 
was  less  well  off  than  Mr.  Drayton.] 

[A.  W.  handles  silver  box  again,  trying  hard, 
seeming  to  listen  or  feel  interiorly  very  intently. 
Complete  failure.] 
J.  A.  H. :    Better  put  it  down ;  she'll  come  when  she 
can.    Try  for  some  more  from  Robert  and  Henry. 

[Pause.] 


loo        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

A.  W. :  Henry  had  a  portrait  of  old  Mr.  Gladstone, 
the  statesman.  I  think  he  must  have  had  one  in  his 
house. 

J.  A.  H.:    Very  likely. 

A.  W. :  Robert  has  brought  him.  I  think  Henry 
has  not  manifested  here  before. 

[Mr.  Drayton  was  a  Liberal  M.P.  for  a  good 
many  years,  retiring  in  1892  owing  to  ill-health. 
He  was  a  vigorous  Gladstonian. 

Correct  that  he  had  not  manifested  here  before. 
Mr.  Leather  seems  to  wish  to  convince  me  of  sur- 
vival; he  brought  an  "Elias  Sidney"  to  my  sitting 
of  January  15th,  1915;  to  the  best  of  my  recollec- 
tion I  had  never  heard  the  name  before,  but 
after  inquiries  in  various  quarters  I  learned  that 
"Elias  Sidney"  had  lived  a  few  miles  away,  and 
had  been  a  political  crony  of  Mr.  Leather's. 

We  have  nothing  in  the  house  that  could  serve 
as  psychometric  link — no  object  that  had  belonged 
to  either  Mr.  Leather  or  Mr.  Drayton — and,  of 
course,  neither  of  them  ever  lived  here. 

As  to  the  medium's  nonnal  knowledge  of  these 
two  men,  I  have  no  reason  to  think  that  he  knows 
anything  except  what  I  have  told  him;  and  this 
does  not  include  anything  about  their  characters 
or  the  exact  shade  of  intimacy  or  relationship, 
which  are  hit  off  so  well.  Both  were  business  men 
who  retired  young,  both  lost  their  wives  early,  and 
for  half  a  century  they  were  close  chums,  neither 
of  them  having  any  other  friend  anything  near  so 
intimate.  Strictly  speaking,  the  evidentiality  of 
this  part  of  the  sitting  is  not  high,  because  they 
were  well-known  men  and  because  the  medium 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REpOftrs     loi 

knew  something  of  Mr.  Leather  before.  But  it  is 
worth  mentioning  that  he  said,  after  my  remarks 
about  them,  that  he  had  no  previous  knowledge 
of  them — "certainly  not  of  Mr.  Drayton."  He 
probably  remembered  dimly  that  the  name  Leather 
had  appeared  at  an  earlier  sitting,  for  it  was  new 
to  him  as  a  name,  and  suggested  only  boots,  etc. 
I  do  not  think  he  connected  the  Robert  of  this 
sittmg  with  the  Leather  of  an  earlier  one.  In  fact, 
Mr.  Leather  seems  to  have  purposely  given  dif- 
ferent parts  of  his  name  on  different  occasions,  for 
when  he  impressed  the  medium  at  Bournemouth  he 
gave  the  first  two  names  ("Parrbury"  and  perhaps 
"Robert"),  and  Wilkinson  thought  the  Parrbury 
was  a  surname,  and  did  not  connect  it  with  Mr. 
Leather. 

However,   the  other  incidents   are  evidentially 
stronger,  being  entirely  new.    Also  Mr.  Lewis  was 
a  less  well-known  man,  and  I  am  sure  I  had  never 
mentioned  him  to  the  medium.] 
Things  seemed  to  be  tailing  off,  so  I  said,  as  en- 
couragement : 

J.  A.  H. :  It  was  very  good  about  those  two  old 
men.  Robert  is  Robert  Leather,  whom  you  have 
named  and  described  here  before;  Henry  is  Henry 
Drayton,  a  close  friend  of  his;  the  woman  called  Whit- 
ley is  his  daughter. 

A.  W. :  I  saw  those  two  old  men  so  clearly  that  I 
could  recognise  their  portraits  if  I  saw  them.  Shan't 
remember  them  long;  shall  have  forgotten  them  to- 
morrow. 

[Unfortunately,  I  had  no  portraits  of  them  at 
hand,  or  I  would  have  tried  tests  like  Sir  Oliver 


102        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

'  'Lodge's  with*  Mrs.  Piper  in  the  "waking  stage." 
Probably,  indeed,  there  was  no  portrait  of  Mr. 
Drayton  in  the  house;  indeed,  I  do  not  think  we 
have  a  photograph  of  either  of  them.] 
Sitting  ended.    Talked  about  war  again.     W.  very 
anxious,  wondering  whether  to  attest.     He  is  about 
thirty-eight,  but  his  sight  will  certainly  exempt  him. 
Left  at  3.40  p.m.  to  catch  3.48  train.     (He  had  ar- 
rived at  2.30.) 

SITTING  6 

Thursday^  February  17/^,  1916.  Present,  J.  A,H.  and 
medium  {Mr.  A.  Wilkinson). 

The  medium  arrived  at  2.25  p.m.,  and  we  talked 
about  the  weather,  his  recent  tours,  and  the  like.  I 
mentioned  no  relatives  or  friends  of  mine.  In  about 
ten  minutes  he  began  to  get  impressions : 

A.  W. :  I  feel  a  bodily  presence  here,  someone  in  the 
body,  a  big,  tall  man,  who  is  coming  to  take  leave  of 
you.  This  is  a  presentiment.  The  man  is  very  cheer- 
ful, not  in  trouble,  not  caring. 

[Improbable:  I  know  of  no  friend  going  away, 
unless  a  lieutenant  friend  is  ordered  abroad,  in 
which  case  he  might  come  to  say  good-bye.  He 
is  6  ft.  2  in.,  and  powerfully  built.] 

[Later:  March  1st.     A  cousin  called  to  say  a 
cheerful  good-bye  last  night.     He  joins  his  regi- 
ment to-day.     He  is  tallish,   but  not  very  big- 
bodied.] 
A.  W. :    There  is  a  woman  just  behind  you,  pale, 
pinched,  a  bit  drawn  at  the  mouth,  not  very  tall.    Not 
an  old  woman,  but  over  sixty,  maybe.     A  delicate 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     103 

woman,  very  pale.  Name,  Mary.  I  have  a  feeling 
that  she  has  been  gone  a  long  time — seventeen  or 
eighteen  years. 

[My  mother,  Mary  Hill,  has  been  named  and 
described  before,  with  more  correct  details.     She 
died  twenty-nine  years  ago,  aged  fifty-four.     She 
was  pale,  but  not  very  delicate.] 
A.  W. :    There  is  a  young  man,  tall,  about  twenty 
years  old,  standing  by  your  coat   [hung  on  hook  in 
Shannon  cabinet] .    No  hair  on  his  face,  high  forehead, 
long  face.    Not  quite  a  man,  about  twenty.     Rather 
dark,  no  colour.     [Unrecognised.] 
A.  W. :    Do  you  know  any  Driver? 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes.     [Slightly,  but  no  deceased  Driv- 
ers.] 

A.  W. :    That  young  man  has  not  been  gone  long. 

[Pause.] 
A.  W. :  You  may  hear  of  a  funeral  of  somebody 
soon;  I  see  a  funeral  party.  A  woman,  who  will  die 
soon ;  it  is  nearly  up  to  you.  Somebody  old.  There  ia 
a  man  here  with  a  round  soft  hat,  a  felt  hat,  like  a 
parson;  grey;  been  a  parson.  He  is  about  here  waiting 
for  somebody.  He  is  a  bit  vague ;  seems  to  be  looking 
through  gauze  or  fog. 

[This  is  good.  A  Mrs.  Walkley,  widow  of  a 
former  local  minister,  died  on  February  15th,  and 
the  funeral  is  to-day,  February  18th.  She  was 
eighty-two  and  has  been  sinking  gradually.  Mr. 
Walkley  and  family  left  here  in  1900,  and  he  died 
on  November  16th  of  that  year.  He  usually  wore 
a  soft,  felt,  clerical  hat,  as  described.  After  his 
death  his  widow  lived  mostly  in  London,  but  for 
the  last  year  or  two  she  has  lived  with  relatives 


104        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

about  six  miles  from  here,  and  twelve  from  where 
the  medium  lives.     They  are  quiet-living  people, 
not  prominent  in  any   way;   and   they  have  no 
association   with   spiritualism.      I   feel   sure   that 
Mr.  Wilkinson  had  no  knowledge  of  them,   for 
though  he   once  got  an  impression  that  I   ''had 
known  some  people  called  Walker,"  which  I  said 
was  true  if  the  name  were  Walkley,  I  gave  no  de- 
tails.   See  sitting  of  December  14th,  1914,  and  A. 
W.'s  letter  of  October  1st,  1915,  pp.  77,  90.] 
A.  W. :    If  I  saw  a  photo  of  that  young  man  I  should 
know  him.     That  old  woman  will  die  soon. 
J.  A.  H. :    She  is  dead  now. 

A.  W. :  Indeed !  It  is  somebody  very  old  and  fee- 
ble, over  eighty;  been  going  gradually. 

That  young  man,  his  mother  was  related  to  your 
mother.  He  hasn't  been  gone  long.  He  has  a  woman 
with  him,  whose  form  is  less;  age  sixty  or  sixty-three, 
rather  sparely  built,  hair  smooth,  oval  face,  rather  fra- 
gile. Her  dress  shines.  She  has  gone  since  him.  [Un- 
recognised.] 

I  wish  I  could  get  that  young  man's  name.  I  am 
interested.  He  looks  thoughtful.  Not  more  than 
twenty.  Have  vou  known  somebody  who  lived  at 
Manchester? 

J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  think  so. 

A.  W. :    I  am  taken  to  Manchester  with  some  young 
man,  to  a  suburban  place  outside  Manchester,  west  of 
Manchester.     Do  you  know  anything  of  Hermiston? 
[Sounded  like  that:  the  name  is  unknown  to  me.] 
J.A.H.:    No. 

A.  W. :  There's  somebody  who  must  have  lived  at 
Manchester,  but  must  have  passed  away. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     105 

I  am  mixed  up  with  this  young  man  with  the  woman 
with  him.    Was  your  mother's  name  Mary? 

J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

A.  W. :  That  young  man  is  related  to  you  through 
her. 

There  is  a  man  with  a  red  face — a  big,  fleshy  man. 
He  wore  a  kind  of  apron,  a  heavy  apron,  to  cover  his 
clothes.    May  have  worn  it  at  his  work. 

J.  A.  H. :    That's  right.    Any  name"? 

A.  W.  [After  pause]  :  That  young  man  is  nearer 
you.  You  must  have  known  him.  As  he  approaches 
you  there  are  reddish  lines  reaching  out  to  you  from 
him.  These  perhaps  indicate  relationship.  He  has 
not  been  before. 
[Pause.] 

That  young  man's  surname  begins  with  H,  but  it 
isn't  Hill.  He  seems  to  be  making  great  efforts  to  tell 
me  more,  but  I  can't  get  it.  Perhaps  he  will  do  better 
noxt  time.  He  is  a  big,  tall  young  man.  Died  perhaps 
of  consumption.  That  woman  that  I  saw,  there  is  a 
tall  old  man  with  her;  eighty,  I  should  think;  very  old 
man.  She  is  standing  by  him;  standing  under  his 
arm  so  to  speak.  [Medium  held  his  arm  straight  out 
sidewise.]  There's  a  lot  all  together  in  a  group.  He 
looks  weather-beaten  in  his  face;  looks  hearty.  Some- 
body belonging  to  her. 

[My  mother  and  her  father,  probably,  both  de- 
scribed and  named  before.  He  died  at  eighty- 
one,  after  a  very  healthy  life.  Was  tall  and  ruddy- 
faced.] 

You'll  excuse  me.  [Goes  over  to  my  coat  and  sits 
on  stool  near  it.] 

The  form  of  that  young  man  was  built  up  here. 


io6        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

I  wish  I  could  get  more  from  him.     He  died  after  a 
quick  consumption.    He  belongs  to  your  family. 
Can't  get  any  more.     [Goes  back  to  his  chair.] 

[Pause.] 
There  is  some  man  here — sixty-five  or  sixty-six.    He 
makes  me  feel  big  and  corpulent.    James,  or  Bannister, 
perhaps  another  name. 

J.  A.  H. :    Right  for  several  folk. 

[Medium  has  named  Mary  Bannister  before — 
maiden   name    of   paternal    grandmother    of   my 
father.  Bannister  Hill,  whose  name  also  I  think 
W.  knows.    Also  a  James  Bannister  has  been  men- 
tioned as  a  remote  ancestor,  probably  true,  but  I 
cannot  verify.     My  father  was  stout  in  middle 
life.] 
A.  W. :     Makes  me  feel  weighty.     Same  man  who 
had  the  apron  on.     He  is  rolling  something  over: 
pulling  cloth  over.     Might  be  a  tailor,  looking  cloth 
over.     But  tailors  don't  wear  aprons.     Did  somebody 
pass  away  in  1897? 

J.  A.  H. :  Very  nearly  then,  but  not  quite.  I  know 
who  it  is. 

A.  W. :  I  have  a  feeling  of  eighteen  or  nineteen  years 
back. 

J.  A.  H. :  Right.  I  want  to  hear  from  him.  Are 
they  feeling  all  right  and  happy  over  there? 

A.  W. :  I  never  get  any  other  feeling  from  them. 
Never  anything  unpleasant  or  uncanny,  except  some- 
times when  I  feel  the  disease  they  died  of. 

Have  you  had  any  intimation  from  the  woman  of 
the  glove*? 

[See  previous  sittings.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     107 

J.  A.  H. :    No ;  I  wish  we  could  hear  from  her. 
[Pause.] 

[The  red-faced,  stout  man  with  an  "apron"  on 
(really  a  "checker  brat"  or  overall),  is  my  father, 
Bannister  Hill;  and  the  pulling  over  of  cloth  is 
about  the  best  possible  identifying  touch.  As  Wil- 
kinson said  this  he  made  movements  with  his  hands 
exactly  reproducing  the  unmistakable  hand  and 
finger  movements  employed  in  throwing  over  the 
"flipes"  of  a  piece  of  cloth  when  the  taker-in  is 
examining  it  for  weaving-faults.  He  died  in  Oc- 
tober, 1898,  aged  sixty-six. 

See  Sitting  4,  November  19th,  1915,  p.  92.] 
A.  W. :    This  big  man  with  the  full  face  must  have 
known  a  man  named  Charlton,  a  younger  man.    This 
man  is  just  waking  up.     He  didn't  quite  believe  he 
was  dead.    I  feel  that  he  would  be  an  impulsive  man. 
He   would   swear   when   things   went   wrong.      Hot- 
headed.    Middle  life.     A  proud  man.     He  has  been 
wandering  about  a  while.     Been  gone  some  time. 
[Pause.] 
His  influence  is  very  authoritative.     Almost  an  ar- 
rogant man  in  some  ways. 

There's  somebody  in  the  body  that  he  wants  to  ap- 
proach— a  woman.    His  object  is  to  reach  her. 
J.  A.  H. :    What  does  he  want  doing  about  her? 

[No  answer.] 
A.  W. :     He  had  money.     He  has  not  manifested 
here  before.     He  was  one  who  would  want  to  rush 
through  fire  and  water  to  get  at  what  he  wanted. 
He  had  a  kind  of  knowledge  of  the  surroundings. 
[A  Mr.  Charlton,  of  this  neighbourhood,  died  a 
few  years  ago.    The  description  is  correct,  though 


io8        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

"middle  life"  is  perhaps  a  little  too  young.  I 
think  he  would  be  about  sixty;  but  he  was  spare 
and  active  until  his  last  illness,  and  did  not  look 
his  age.  He  was  rather  impulsive  and  on  occa- 
sion profane;  but  a  very  good  sort.  His  widow  is 
left  rather  lonely.  I  never  knew  him  "to  speak 
to,"  but  probably  he  knew  me  by  sight,  as  I  knew 
him. 

He  was  younger  than  my  father,  and  was  known 
to  him,  as  said.] 
A.  W. :  Have  you  known  someone  named  Edmund  ? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes.     [Thinking  of  Edmund  Stott,  local 
draper  who  died  a  few  years  ago.] 

A.  W. :  Man  of  seventy  or  seventy-three,  this  Ed- 
mund. Did  not  die  about  here;  I  am  taken  away. 
He  went  to  Morecambe.  Might  have  lived  at  More- 
cambe.  Might  have  lived  or  died  there.  Tall,  fairly 
straight,  full  beard  and  on  cheeks,  big  nose,  well- 
dressed,  black,  very  tidy.  Name  Edmund,  biggish- 
bodied  man,  good  physique. 

[Would  fit  Edmund  Stott,  except  that  I  feel 
sure  he  died  at  home.  ] 
[Pause.] 
A.  W. :  I  smell  a  smell  of  brewing — beer.    Malt,  as 
if  you  were  passing  a  brewery.    A  nice  smell.    But  it's 
quite  different  from  those  flowers.     [Pointing  to  flow- 
ers on  the  table.]     It's  malt. 

[W.  looked  puzzled,  so  I  helped  a  little.] 
J.  A.  H. :    No  brewers  among  my  relatives,  but  there 
is  a  connexion  between  brewing  and  Mr.  Charlton. 

[He  was  associated  with  a  brewery  company.] 

A.  W. :    That  Charlton's  influence  won't  leave  me. 

He  knew  somebody  called  William.     It  is  a  bit  frag- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     109 

mentary,  but  they  did  not  just  agree  about  something. 
There  is  a  divergence  of  opinion.  Whether  it  is  re- 
ligion, I  don't  know.  He  has  a  big,  thick  stick;  not 
a  walking-stick — it  is  too  thick.  He  has  a  very  light- 
coloured  suit  on,  kind  of  sporting  outfit.  He  is  a  new 
influence,  not  manifested  here  before.  Very  impul- 
sive. [Clairvoyance  ended  here.  I  told  him  nothing 
as  to  how  far  he  had  been  correct.] 

[Mr.  Charlton  and  a  relative  of  mine  named 
William  knew  each  other  rather  well.  I  don't  know 
of  any  disagreement  between  them,  but  in  religion 
and  politics  they  were  perhaps  rather  far  apart. 
Mr.  Charlton  liked  very  light-coloured  suits  for 
summer,  usually  light  grey  tweeds.  The  thick 
stick  is  unrecognised,  though  I  have  an  impression 
that  I  have  seen  him  with  fishing  tackle,  so  it  may 
be  a  jointed  rod,  folded  up.  It  is  correct  that  this 
is  his  first  appearance  at  a  sitting  of  mine.  I  have 
no  reason  to  think  that  Wilkinson  had  ever  heard 
of  him,  for  he  lived  a  very  retired  life. 

Note:    April  27th,  1916. — I  have  to-day  asked 
my  relative,  and  he  says  that  Mr.  Charlton  and 
he  never  discussed  politics  or  religion,  and  never 
disagreed    about    anything    in    conversation.     He 
liked  Mr.  Charlton,  and  got  on  excellently  with 
him.    But  they  met  only  casually,  usually  in  tram- 
cars.     See  ante,  pp.  40-43,  for  further  comment.] 
Note:     March  7th,  1916. — To-night's  local  papers 
announce  the  death  of  Mr.  Charlton's  younger  brother. 
He  "had  not  been  well  for  some  time,"  and  had  been 
to  London  to  see  a  specialist  a  week  before  his  death. 
I  knew  of  his  existence,  but  had  not  heard  he  was  ill ; 
in  fact,  I  had  not  heard  him  mentioned  for  some  years. 


no        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

I  did  not  know  him,  even  by  sight.  He  lived  in  an- 
other town,  fifteen  miles  away,  and  twenty  from  where 
Wilkinson  lives.  I  do  not  think  the  latter  ever  visits 
that  particular  small  town,  and  I  do  not  think  he  knew 
anything  of  either  of  the  two  brothers. 

It  looks  as  if  Mr.  Charlton  had  come  to  meet  his 
brother,  as  Mr.  Leather  came  to  meet  his  friend  Dray- 
ton, and  as  Mr.  Walkley  came  to  meet  his  widow. 

Note:  March  19th,  1916. — In  the  early  part  of  this 
sitting  there  is  a  reference  to  some  "Driver";  later, 
a  description  of  an  Edmund,  which  fits  Edmund  Stott, 
though  the  latter  died  at  home.  In  my  sitting  of 
December  14th,  1914  [p.  78],  there  was  said,  "Some 
man  named  Driver  here."     (Unrecognised.) 

Yesterday,  March  18th,  1916,  after  re-reading  these 
reports,  I  for  the  first  time  associated  the  Driver  and 
the  Edmund,  and  dimly  thought  the  name  was  real. 
After  reflection  I  felt  almost,  but  not  quite,  sure  that 
an  Edmund  Driver  had  tenanted  a  local  hotel,  leaving 
about  twenty  years  ago.  On  inquiry  I  find  that  this 
is  so;  but  I  cannot  ascertain  where  he  died.  Either 
his  widow  and  family  moved  soon  after  his  death,  or 
they  went  before.  I  am  making  inquiry,  also  about 
his  personal  appearance,  of  which  I  remember  nothing. 

In  .those  days  there  was  a  malt-kiln  behind  and 
belonging  to  that  hotel,  so  the  malt  smell  may  refer 
to  Edmund,  not  to  Mr.  Charlton.  The  kiln  has  long 
been  done  away  with,  and  there  is  now  a  laundry  there. 

Note:  March  26th,  1916. — I  have  asked  a  friend 
to-day  about  Edmund  Driver,  whom  he  remembers 
well.  He  says  the  description  fits  E.  D.  much  more 
closely  than  E.  Stott.  He  could  not  be  very  sure  about 
a  specially  large  nose,  but  all  the  other  details  are 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     in 

markedly  correct,  except  that  he  feels  sure  E.  D.  died 
at  the  hotel  here,  not  at  Morecambe.  (See  pp.  54-59 
for  further  details.) 

My  informant  says  that  in  Driver's  time  the  owners 
brewed  in  the  adjoining  building,  which  was  after- 
wards a  malt-kiln  and  is  now  a  laundry.  The  smell  of 
malt  and  brewing  seems  therefore  specially  applicable 
to  Edmund  Driver;  he  was  associated  with  these  things 
much  more  closely  than  Mr.  Charlton  was,  the  latter 
having  no  immediate  personal  touch  with  them. 


SITTING  7 

Wednesday,  April  \2th,  1916.    Present,  J,  A,  H.  and 
medium  {Mr,  A,  Wilkinson). 

W.  arrived  2.25  p.m.,  and  we  talked  about  the 
war,  the  weather,  and  his  influenza  and  neuralgia, 
which  have  kept  him  at  home  the  last  few  weeks.  He 
is  still  not  looking  well,  and  I  rather  thought  the  sit- 
ting was  going  to  be  a  blank,  for  he  got  no  clairvoyance 
till  2.55. 

Then : 

A.  W.:  There  is  a  little  old  woman  at  the  back 
of  you.  Now  she  comes  by  the  bedside.  She  has  a 
lace  thing  round  her  shoulders;  black,  a  lacy  thing. 
There  is  also  something  on  her  head,  something  which 
comes  down  at  the  sides.  A  rather  slim  little  woman; 
big  nose.  I  can  see  her  face  plainly.  No  colour.  A 
very  old  woman.  The  lace  thing  makes  her  look  dressy. 
Something  white  at  front  of  her  neck. 

[Good  for  my  grandmother  Hey,  who  has  been 
described  by  A.  W.  before.     I  should  hardly  call 


1 1 2        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

her  slim,  though.     But  she  was  not  stout — was 

spare  and  active,  but  average  breadth  of  shoulder, 

I  should  say.    The  big  nose  and  the  cap  with  sides, 

and  I  think  the  black  lace  shawl,  are  exactly  true.] 

There  is  somebody  called  Jonas  connected  with  her. 

She  was  a  dainty  woman  in  dress  and  manner;  not 

fussy,  but  dainty.     I  have  an  impression  of  a  Jonas 

connected  with  her.     That  thing  about  her  head  is 

silk;  a  good  quality  thing.     A  very  old  person,  but 

not  very  drawn  in  features.    Moves  slowly  at  the  side 

of  the  bed.    She  is  some  time  back. 

[All  true.    She  had  a  brother  Jonas,  named  and 
described  before.     She  died  in  1890,  aged  eighty- 
one.] 
Have  you  known  somebody  named  Jowett^ 
J.  A.  H. :     Yes.     I  wish  you  could  get  something 
about  a  Jowett  you  saw  here  before.     I  can't  quite 
make  out  who  it  was.     [See  sitting  of  January  15th, 
1915,  p.  81.] 
[Pause.] 
A.  W. :    There  is  some  woman  named  Betty  Tran- 
ter.   Some  Tranter  connected  with  this  Betty.    Some- 
body connected  with  your  family  some  years  back. 
Betty  Tranter.     Biggish  woman.     Good  way  back. 
Have  you  known  anybody  named  Verity"? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

A.  W. :  I  don't  know  whether  it  is  a  surname  or 
not.  You  may  not  have  known  him  intimately.  It 
is  some  way  back.  A  tallish,  biggish  man.  Betty  is 
connected  with  him. 

J.  A.  H. :    Quite  right.     I  knew  a  Verity  Tranter. 
Betty  is  perhaps  his  wife.    I  don't  know  her  name. 
A.  W. :    He  was  a  strong  personality.    Betty  is  con- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     113 

nected  with  him,  and  I  think  they  know  your  people. 
Verity  is  a  funriy  name — I  have  never  known  or  heard 
of  anybody  called  that.  I  think  he  would  leave  some 
money  and  there  was  trouble  about  it.  Perhaps  liti- 
gation. Not  lately,  but  there  was  trouble  about  some- 
thing he  left  behind. 

[Verity  Tranter  was  a  local  butcher  and  farmer, 
who  died  about  a  dozen  years  ago.  I  called  some- 
times to  order  meat,  but  usually  saw  his  wife.  I 
doubt  whether  I  ever  had  any  talk  with  him,  but  I 
knew  him  well  by  sight,  as  he  no  doubt  knew  me; 
for  he  was  probably  often  in  the  shop  when  I 
passed.  He  was  a  big,  strong  man.  I  think  his 
wife  is  alive,  but  they  have  left  this  district  and  I 
do  not  know  where  they  are,  but  will  try  to  ascer- 
tain. I  doubt  whether  he  left  much  money.  I 
know  of  no  litigation  or  trouble,  but  will  try  to 
find  out.  See  sitting  of  January  19th,  1916  (p. 
96),  for  an  apparent  Tranter  attempt. 

Note:  October  9th,  1916. — I  find  that  there 
may  be  a  slight  family  connexion;  there  was  a 
Betty  Tranter  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  and 
her  sister  married  a  Hey  who  was  probably  related 
to  my  mother.  I  find  also  that  there  is  some  rele- 
vance in  the  statement  about  money-disputes  in  re- 
lation to  Verity  Tranter.] 
Did  you  ever  know  a  woman  with  a  wood  leg? 
Tall,  elderly;  a  wood  foot  or  leg. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  think  I  know  who  it  is.  Can  you  get 
her  name?    She  has  been  before. 

A.  W. :  I  could  hear  the  thud  on  the  floor.  [W. 
here  got  up  and  limped  about,  thudding  with  his  right 
foot.]     You  would  know  this  woman  with  the  leg 


114        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

when  you  were  a  boy.  She  has  been  gone  on  many 
years.  I  feel  as  if  she  takes  me  somewhere  where  she 
lived.    It  is  a  local  connexion;  I  don't  get  far  away. 

[Probably  Emma  Steeton.     See  my  sitting  of 
January  15th,   1915,  pp.  82,  85,  89.     She  lived 
about  half  a  mile  from  here.     It  is  about  thirty 
years  since  she  died,  I  should  think.] 
Have  you  had  a  friend  named  Burroughs? 
J.  A.  H. :    No,  I  think  not. 

[Note:     February  23rd,  1917. — But  the  name 
was  familiar  to  me,  and  at  a  sitting  held  while 
these  sheets   were  going  through  the  press   there 
were  further  developments  indicating,  though  not 
yet  very  clearly,   a  family  very  well  known  to 
us.  ] 
It  isn't  that  woman's  name,  I  think. 
Somebody  called  Burns ;  I  get  a  name  Bums.    These 
names  come  into  my  head. 

J.  A.  H. :    That  may  be  right;  I  have  known  some 
Burnses. 

A.  W. :    Bums  and  Burroughs. 
This  woman  with  the  wood  leg  must  have  had  a 
good  voice  and  could  sing.  She  is  showing  me  some 
hymn-books;  she  was  interested  in  hymn-books  and 
music. 

[No  recollection,  but  possible  enough.  She  was 
a  widow,  poor,  lived  alone  in  a  cottage  near  our 
then  home.  She  attended  the  Wesleyan  Chapel 
a  couple  of  hundred  yards  from  her  home.  The 
hymn-books  may  be  a  reference  to  that,  rather  than 
to  music ;  as  in  the  Moses  Young  incident  in  sitting 
of  January  15th,  1915,  pp.  80,  81.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     115 

Have  you  ever  known  anybody  called  Helen  Tor- 
rington  ? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

A.  W. :    Somebody — a  man — is  in  trouble. 

She  is  a  middle-aged  woman,  full  figure.  I  call 
them  middle-aged  up  to  sixty  or  so;  she  might  be 
sixty- four.  Helen  (emphasising  the  aspirate).  Be* 
gins  with  H.  A  man  away  from  here  is  in  trouble. 
She  draws  me  in  contact  with  some  man  away  from 
here.  He  has  a  lot  of  care,  and  there  is  some  cause 
for  alarm.  There  is  going  to  be  trouble  about  this 
man  in  the  body.  Has  this  woman  a  son,  away  from 
here? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes.    He  is  a  friend  of  mine. 

A.  W. :    Is  he  in  trouble  *? 

J.  A.  H. :    Well,  trade  is  bad. 

A.  W. :  He  is  intending  doing  something  which  he 
ought  not  to  do.  He  is  businesslike.  There  is  some- 
thing looming  over  him  which  is  not  good. 

J.  A.  H. :    Is  there  anything  we  can  do? 

A.  W. :  He  should  hold  on ;  stick  to  it.  He  should 
hold  on  to  whatever  it  is,  tenaciously.  There  has  been 
trouble  in  his  mind.  As  if  he  was  going  to  get  quit  of 
it.  Wherever  he  is  it  is  a  very  busy  place;  lots  of 
work.  An  atmosphere  that  is  exciting  and  busy.  That 
woman  thinks  a  great  deal  of  this  man.  Thought  a  lot 
of  him  when  living,  too. 

[Extremely  appropriate  to  an  old  friend  of 
mine,  who  has  lived  in  America  since  1901.  His 
business  has  suffered  owing  to  the  war,  and  he  has 
had  great  trouble — ^bereavement,  etc. — during  the 
last  few  years.  I  have  no  reason  to  think  that 
A.  W.  has  any  normally-acquired  knowledge  of 


ii6        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

him  or  his  family.  Mrs.  Torrington  was  named, 
and  said  to  be  present,  at.  my  sitting  of  December 
14th,  1914  (p.  74),  but  I  said  nothing  except  that 
I  knew  who  it  was.    See  also  p.  92. 

Later :  I  sent  the  message,  and  it  is  applicable. 
He  was  thinking  of  relinquishing  certain  business 
enterprises.  I  think  he  has  now  decided  to  "stick." 
The  prediction  of  trouble  looming  over  him  was 
correct  in  another  way,  for,  soon  after  the  date 
of  the  sitting,  his  wife  was  seriously  ill.  Operation 
was  proposed,  but  the  doctors  disagreed  as  to  the 
ailment,  so  their  advice  was  disregarded  and  the 
patient  recovered.  It  may  be  that  the  advice  to 
"hold  on"  was  in  reference  to  this.] 
[Pause.] 
I  haven't  seen  that  young  man  who  came  before. 

[See  last  sitting,  February  17th,  1916.] 
J.  A.  H. :    I  wish  he  would  come. 
A.  W. :    Before  I  started  off  to  come  here  I  saw  an 
apparition  of  a  man,  and  he  seemed  to  come  in  front 
of  me.    It  was  that  man  named  Verity.    I  never  heard 
of  such  a  man  before.    Was  he  a  Churchman'? 
J.  A.  H. :    Probably,  if  he  was  anything. 
Clairvoyance  ended.     I  asked  A.  W.  if  the  name 
"Hermiston"  was  known  to  him — see  sitting  of  Feb- 
ruary 17th,  1916,  p.  104 — and  he  said,  "No,  but  there 
is  an  Urmston  near  Manchester,  between  there  and 
Warrington.     I  have  never  got  off  there,  and  know  it 
only  by  seeing  it  from  the  train.     A  man  lives  there 
who  used  to  live  at  Ovenden,   near  Halifax.  .  .  ." 
Wilkinson  gave  me  this  gentleman's  name,  and  the 
surname  is  the  same  as  that  of  some  of  my  relatives 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     117 

on  my  mother's  side.  I  doubt  whether  he  can  be  a 
connexion,  but,  if  he  is,  there  is  sense  in  the  mention 
of  Hermiston  (for  Urmston,  which  the  medium  no 
doubt  said,  but  which,  being  unknown  to  me,  was 
heard  as  Hermiston,  this  name — a  fictitious  one,  I 
think — being  familiar  to  me  in  Stevenson's  Weir  of 
Hermiston), 

After  desultory  talk,  Wilkinson  left  at  3.35. 

The  foregoing  was  written  on  Thursday,  April  13th, 
1916;  the  report  part  being  copied  from  my  verbatim 
shorthand  notes  taken  at  the  time. 


SITTING  8 

Wednesday,  April  igth,  1916.    Present,  J.  A.  H.  and 
medium  (Mr.  A.  Wilkinson). 

Mr.  Wilkinson  arrived  at  2.25  p.m.  After  prelim- 
inary remarks  about  the  weather,  he  said: 

Before  I  came,  while  I  was  writing  a  letter,  I  saw 
a  medium-sized  woman,  with  very  white  hair.  An 
apparition,  you  know.  She  was  carrying  a  very  big 
book,  heavily  bound,  with  gilt  edges;  almost  as  heavy 
as  she  could  carry.  I  couldn't  see  the  lettering  on  it; 
it  might  be  a  Bible  or  a  big  history-book,  or  something 
like  that.     I  couldn't  tell  who  she  was. 

J.  A.  H. :  Perhaps  somebody  who  is  coming  here 
this  afternoon,  as  in  the  case  of  that  man  last  time. 

A.  W. :  That's  what  I  thought;  that's  why  I  men- 
tion it. 

[But  I  don't  know  that  it  had  any  special  ap- 
propriateness to  any  of  those  who  were  afterwards 
described.  ] 


ii8        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

J.  A.  H. :  Here  is  another  glove  which  belonged  to 
that  friend  of  mine.     [Giving  it  to  him.] 

A.  W.  [after  handling  it  for  about  a  minute] :  I 
can  see  a  chapel.  There  is  a  gallery;  I  feel  I  am  in 
the  gallery,  looking  down  into  the  area.  I  can  see 
the  area;  it  is  biggish,  quite  a  large  place.  There  is 
a  man  in  the  pulpit,  a  tallish  man  with  a  big  nose  and 
long  face.  He  is  preaching.  It  passes  before  me  so 
plainly. 

I  am  in  the  area  of  the  chapel,  at  the  back.  Part  of 
the  gallery  is  over  my  head.  This  has  come  with  the 
glove.  There  are  lots  of  people  in  that  place.  Where- 
ever  can  that  be,  I  wonder? 

[I  did  not  speak,  being  busy  getting  it  all  down. 

Wilkinson  had  reeled  this  off  at  unusual  speed 

and  with  great  conviction.] 

That  man  in  the  pulpit  has  a  big  nose.    He  isn't  a 

big  man,  though  fairly  tall.    Where  this  woman  tries 

to  take  me  is  not  far  in  from  the  door  of  the  church. 

Some  place  where  she  usually  sat. 

[Mrs.  Napier  was  a  Church  woman.  I  have  no 
knowledge  as  to  what  part  of  the  church  she  sat 
in.  It  is  perhaps  noteworthy  that  in  the  parcel 
which  she  had  wrapped  up  for  me  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore her  death,  and  from  which  I  took  this  glove, 
there  was  the  prayer-book  which  she  had  habitu- 
ally used  for  some  time,  though  Wilkinson  did  not 
see  it.  Whether  it  was  psychometry  or  impres- 
sions from  her  own  surviving  mind,  the  vision  of 
the  church  was  appropriate.  I  will  try  to  ascer- 
tain where  she  sat,  and  the  appearance  of  the  usual 
preacher  or  preachers.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     119 

This  person  must  have  been  delicate  for  a  long  time. 
Stomach  bad.    Could  not  take  heavy  foods. 

[Very  true;  she  practically  starved  to  death, 
owing  to  some  growth.  Not  even  fluid  food  pos- 
sible for  weeks  before  the  end.] 

I  feel  I  am  going  on  a  long  road.  I  have  come  to  a 
house.  It  is  not  raised  up  like  this  one;  it  is  more 
on  the  level  as  I  enter  it.  I  can  see  a  clock  and  a  pier- 
glass,  gilt  with  embellished  frame.  A  heavy  clock  on 
the  mantel. 

I  am  going  upstairs,  into  a  bedroom.  I  see  a  picture 
on  the  wall;  a  picture  of  a  tall  or  tallish  woman. 

How  long  have  you  had  this  gloved 

J.  A.  H. :  About  five  months.  [Six,  I  afterwards 
reckoned  up.] 

A.  W. :  You  don't  know  if  this  woman  had  a  gold 
brooch,  oblong  shape,  with  a  stone  in  it? 

J.  A.  H. :   I  don't  know. 

A.  W. :  I  am  impressed  to  put  my  hand  here  [front 
of  neck].  I  feel  a  brooch  with  a  hard  stone.  She 
would  be  rather  partial  to  this  brooch;  would  only 
wear  it  occasionally.    She  had  a  bad  stomach. 

That  picture  is  not  a  painted  picture;  it  is  an  en- 
graving— steel  engraving,  I  expect.  It  looks  like  a 
woman.  Not  so  big  a  room  as  this.  [Will  try  to 
ascertain  about  picture,  etc.]  She  must  have  been  a 
thin  person.  [Latterly,  yes,  but  not  when  well.] 
Sharp,  quick,  nervy,  somewhat  impulsive  manner. 
Whoever  this  person  liked,  she  would  like  intensely. 
[True  and  characteristic]  She  must  have  been  very 
ill  with  the  stomach. 

J.  A.  H. :  Yes,  she  was. 

A.  W. :    Have  you  known  a  woman  who  kept  a 


120        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

school  ?    Middle-aged,  or  a  bit  over.    Rather  spare  and 
ladylike.    She  had  children  to  deal  with. 

J.  A.  H. :   Yes,  I  have  known  several. 

A.  W. :  She  has  a  black  dress — I  think  it  is  silk, 
trimmed  with  black  and  white  figured  stuff.  Her  hair 
is  a  little  wiry,  and  sticks  out  at  the  sides.  Have  you 
known  somebody  named  Hanson?  She  must  have 
been  at  a  school ;  she  is  holding  up  a  book  like  a  copy- 
book.    Connected  with  a  school. 

J.  A.  H. :   She  has  been  before. 

A.  W. :   Has  she*?    I  didn't  remember  that. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  wish  we  could  make  out  who  she  is. 
Apparently  it  is  someone  who  has  known  me.  I  won- 
der where  she  was. 

A.  W. :  She  lived  not  far  away  from  here,  I  think. 
I  feel  linked  up  locally.  It  may  be  that  somebody 
belonging  to  her  has  been  known  to  you. 

Hannah  or  Annie  Hanson.  Some  time  back.  It  is 
some  time  since  she  died.  She  has  nothing  to  do  with 
this  glove  [which  A.  W.  had  put  down  and  now  picked 
up  again].  Do  you  know  if  she  has  a  daughter?  [I 
think  the  glove-owner  was  meant.] 

J.  A.  H. :   No,  she  had  no  children. 

A.  W. :  There  is  some  young  woman  connected  with 
this  glove,  twenty-two  or  twenty-three.  Somebody 
very  jolly  and  gay,  cheerful. 

J.  A.  H.:   Yes. 

A.  W. :  I  feel  a  cheerfulness.  She  is  living,  and  was 
about  this  woman.  She  did  something  for  her.  She 
is  a  very  nice,  refined  person.  Tactful :  the  right  per- 
son.   Quite  young:  lot  younger  than  me. 

[Probably  true  or  fairly  so  of  Mrs.  Napier's 
sister,  who  lived  with  her  and  did  much  for  her  in 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     121 

her  illness.    But  she  is  a  little  more  than  twenty- 
three,  I  think :  perhaps  thirty.    Wilkinson  is  thirty- 
eight.] 
This  woman  had  some  kind  of  thing  that  she  had 
worked,  to  put  on  her.     Perhaps  a  dressing-gown.     It 
is  white  or  nearly  white,  with  fancy  work,  stitched. 
She  made  it  with  her  own  fingers,  and  would  be  sewing 
at  it  for  some  time.     White  flannel  or  some  fine  ma- 
terial, not  cotton  or  linen,  I  think.     All  the  front  is 
worked  very  prettily. 

I  feel  that  she  had  found  something  before  she  was 
very  ill,  something  that  had  made  her  very  pleased 
and  gratified,  as  if  something  had  happened,  quite  un- 
usual, very  pleasant  to  her,  and  it  had  continued  with 
her,  continued  to  be  a  pleasure  to  her.  Perhaps  she 
had  some  money  left,  but  I  am  only  guessing  that, 
from  the  feeling. 

[And  he  said  it  hesitatingly,  as  if  he  had  a  feel- 
ing that  it  was  a  wrong  guess.    It  is  true  that  she 
had  a  good  income  left  by  her  husband,  but  I  doubt 
whether  this  is  what  was  meant.     I  am  not  sure, 
but  I  think  she  may  be  meaning  the  knowledge  of 
psychical   matters   and   literature,   which   she  ob- 
tained from  1905  onwards,  and  which  I  know  was 
a  great  help  and  comfort  and  pleasure  to  her,  ex- 
plaining certain  experiences  of  her  own.     I  know 
nothing  of  the  fancy-work  thing,  but  will  inquire.] 
This  lady  who  was  ill  was  very  fond  of  this  young 
woman.     Perhaps  the  white  thing  was  something  she 
gave  her.    Perhaps  some  under-garment. 

There  is  a  man  called  Joseph  across  the  room  there 
— a  faint  outline.  A  very  big  man,  corpulent,  broad, 
full  features,  a  little  beard  on  the  chin,  not  much  on 


122        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  cheeks.  Fresh  colour.  Not  bald,  but  hair  thin 
and  grey.  A  very  healthy  man.  Grey  clothes.  I  can 
see  his  nose  and  the  colour  in  his  face.  About  sixty  or 
sixty-two. 

[Unrecognised:  but  see  later.] 

Have  you  known  somebody  called  Yewton?  I  am 
in  a  square  yard.     I  can  smell  hay.     Yewton. 

J.  A.  H. :  Yewton  is  a  farm.  [Here  I  remembered 
that  a  Joseph  West  once  lived  there,  before  my  time. 
Will  inquire  about  his  appearance.] 

A.  W. :  Indeed.  I  once  knew  a  Mr.  Yewton,  but  I 
never  heard  of  a  place  of  that  name. 

[He  has,  but  has  probably  forgotten;  for  he  got 
the  name  before,  at  my  sitting  of  January  15th, 
1915,  and  I  told  him  it  was  a  farm.  It  has  not 
been  mentioned  since.    See  pp.  84,  85.] 

The  stout  man  has  brought  that  farm.  He  looks 
like  a  farmer.  His  cheeks  were  as  red  as  an  apple. 
They  quite  shone. 

I  have  a  feeling  I  might  write  [i.e.  automatically; 
takes  paper  and  pencil.] 

You  don't  know  anybody  called  John  Thomas 
Hanson?  [Writes  something,  afterwards  found  to  be 
this  name.  The  John  is  quite  different  from  Wilkin- 
son's writing;  the  Thomas  is  a  mixture;  and  Hanson 
is  in  his  own  hand.] 

J.  A.  H. :     No,  I  don't  remember. 

A.  W. :  He  must  be  somebody  connected  with  that 
woman  Hanson. 

Do  you  know  if  something  tragic  happened  at  Yew- 
ton?   A  long  time  back. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  know,  but  I  can  find  out. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     123 

A.  W. :  I  think  something  happened  there  a  long 
time  back. 

A  lot  of  names  come  into  my  mind,  and  they  may 
mean  nothing. 

J.  A.  H. :  Tell  me  anything  that  comes,  because 
sometimes  it  turns  out  right,  though  I  may  not  recog- 
nise it  at  the  time. 

A.  W. :  Well,  there  seems  to  be  somebody  called 
Armitage.  Tallish,  young.  I  can't  see  his  head  or 
face,  but  he  seems  tall.    About  thirty. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  think  he  has  been  before. 

A.  W. :  I  smell  something — wool,  oily  stuff.  He 
might  work  among  wool. 

[I  thought  at  first  of  Arthur  Armitage,  whom 
Wilkinson  named  at  sitting  of  July  21st,  1914, 
and  whom  I  knew  slightly.  He  died  about  1902. 
But  I  think  he  worked  mostly  in  his  father's  shop, 
though  I  believe  he  worked  in  a  weaving  or  spin- 
ning mill  occasionally.    See  p.  72.] 

Have  you  had  something  to  do  with  a  man  in  mid- 
dle life,  a  good-looking  man,  called  Lethbridge'? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

A.  W. :  This  man  is  in  the  body.  You  might  be 
having  a  money  transaction  with  him. 

J.  A.  H.:    Very  likely. 

A.  W. :  A  man  all  about  money;  well-dressed;  been 
in  his  business  a  long  time. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  know  him.  Who  has  come  connected 
with  him? 

A.  W. :    Have  you  been  about  him  lately? 

J.  A.  H. :  No.    It  may  be  a  prediction. 

A.  W. :  I  think  he  studies  finance  a  lot.  There  is 
somebody  belonging  to  you  that  knows  him  better  than 


124        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

you  do,  perhaps.     Has  this  man  been  married  twice? 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes.    Has  his  first  wife  come? 
A.  W. :    I  don't  know. 

[A  Mr.  Lethb ridge  is  a  bank  manager,  and  has 
had  that  position  for  many  years — twenty  or  more. 
I  anticipate  no  direct  financial   transaction  with 
him,  but  I  have  recently  been  indirectly  associated 
with  him,  for  the  first  time,  in  a  matter  concerning 
finance.     His  first  wife  knew  me  slightly,  as  does 
also  his  second.     I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
the  medium  has  ever  heard  of  him.  ] 
It's  very  funny — I  can't  get  away  from  that  school. 
At  that  farm  place,  a  very  long  time  since,  some 
man  lost  his  life.     They  are  trying  to  show  me  some- 
thing.    Some  old  person  would  be   required  to  tell 
about  this.    I  dare  say  if  I  were  at  the  place  I  could 
tell  more. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  can  get  to  know. 

A.  W. :     I  can  see  a  man  very  plainly ;  tall ;  like  a 
man  who  would  work  at  a  quarry,  by  the  clothes  he 
wears.    Prime  of  life — forty-eight  or  fifty.    His  name 
was  Jim  Hey.     He  must  have  died  very  suddenly. 
Something  happened  and  he  died  very  suddenly.     I 
am  inclined  to  think  something  happened  to  him. 
J.  A.  H. :    Murder,  do  you  think? 
A.  W. :    No ;  accident,  I  should  say.    Jim  Hey.    A 
strong,  healthy  man.     Either  a  carter  or  a  quarryman. 
[Pause.] 
Is  there  a  place  called  Levensley?     This  man  was 
associated  with  Levensley. 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  I  know  such  a  place.. 
A.  W. :    Was  there  a  Joe  Robinson? 
J.  A.  H. :    Not  that  I  remember. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     125 

A.  W. :     Is  Levensley  a  farm'? 
J.  A.  H. :    Both  a  farm  and  a  house. 
A.  W.:     Levensley  is  connected  with  Jim  Hey,  I 
think.    He  probably  had  some  accident. 

[I  know  no  Jim  Hey,  but  will  inquire.  My 
maternal  grandfather's  name  was  Hey,  but  I  think 
he  had  no  brother.  Still,  there  are  other  local 
Heys,  unrelated  or  very  distantly  related.  Leven- 
sley is,  like  Yewton — but  in  quite  a  different  lo- 
cality— an  outlying  farm  with  a  very  good  house. 
There  are  perhaps  also  a  few  cottages  called  Leven- 
sley in  a  general  way.  It  is  unlikely  that  the 
medium  knew  the  name;  I  have  never  mentioned 
it  to  him,  and  it  is  a  long  way  from  the  main  road, 
and  not  near  any  public  road.  It  is  about  a  mile 
from  here.  I  doubt  whether  Wilkinson  has  ever 
been  near  it.  ] 

[April  23rd,   1916. — ^A  friend  tells  me  to-day 

that  a  Jim  Hey,  known  as  "Deaf  Jim,"  a  publican 

and  horse-dealer,  once  lived  at  the  Junction  Inn, 

near  Yewton,  but  that  is  all  he  knows.     Later: 

See  Sitting  9,  June  5th,  1916.] 

There  is  somebody  here  called  Bannister — William 

Bannister.     Such  a  big  man;  a  long  way  back,  before 

you  were  born.    He  knows  about  Jim  Hey. 

[The  Bannisters — ^my  grandfather  Hill's  moth- 
er's people — lived  at  Kildwick,  ten  miles  away. 
There  was  a  William,  I  find,  but  I  cannot  ascer- 
tain much  about  him.] 
I  see  big  draught  horses.     This  William  Bannister 
has  been  dead  a  long  time.     He  would  be  oldish  but 
not  old,  and  he  had  either  got  lamed  or  walked  lame 
because  of  some  ailment,  not  because  of  age.    He  had 


126        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

to  use  a  stick,  couldn't  walk  very  well.  Rather  strange, 
I  have  the  impression  that  William  Bannister  had 
something  to  do  with  your  grandfather  on  your  father's 
side.  He  is  a  member  of  your  grandfather's  family  on 
your  father's  side. 

[He  might  be  an  uncle  of  my  grandfather  Hill, 
whose  mother's  maiden  name  was  Bannister.     I 
will  try  to  ascertain,  but  it  will  be  difficult.    We 
have  lost  sight  of  them,  if  any  are  left.] 
Had  your  mother  a  cousin  named  Ishmael  *? 
J.  A.  H. :    She  had  an  uncle  of  that  name. 
A.  W. :     I  have  a  feeling  that  he  was  a  cousin  of 
your  mother's ;  long  dead.    There  was  some  little  vari- 
ance between  this  man's  family  and  hers.    Some  little 
disagreement.    He  was  a  cousin,  I  think. 

[Rather  indefinite,  but  there  was  an  Ishmael, 
not  a  first  cousin,  who  was  related  to  my  mother. 
But  it  is  all  too  vague  to  be  evidential.] 
Was  your  grandmother  named  Mary? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes.     [Named  and  described  before,  if 
mother's  mother.] 

A.  W. :  She  must  have  lived  to  be  very  old,  and 
had  a  lot  of  children. 

[About   eighty-one,   but  only   five   children,    I 
think.] 
Do  you  know  if  somebody  has  a  long  case  clock 
belonging  to  her? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

A.  W. :  A  curious  thing,  this  woman  makes  me  feel 
I  want  to  say,  "I  never  had  a  headache  in  my  life." 
Medium  laughs,  repeating  it.  She  certainly  was  a 
remarkably  healthy  woman,  so  far  as  we  remember; 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     127 

very  active  and  wiry.    I  don't  remember  that  she  was 
ever  ill  until  she  died  of  old  age.] 

J.  A.  H. :    That  sounds  like  her. 

[Note:  April  21st,  1916. — I  am  told  by  rela- 
tives who  knew  her  in  earlier  days  that  she  had 
"sick  headaches"  up  to  the  age  of  fifty.] 

A.  W. :  I  see  a  letter  dropping  down  on  you.  There 
is  a  letter  coming  to  you  from  some  man — probably 
London.  It  will  not  exactly  disquiet  you,  but  it  will 
cause  you  to  feel  anxious. 

Have  you  a  friend  in  London  who  is  not  well  ? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes.     [Thinking  of  a  Mrs.  Arnold.] 

A.  W. :  You  might  write.  It  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  write  to  the  friend. 

Somebody  living  in  London,  I  think.  I  feel  a  wom- 
an's hand  on  my  head — I  feel  the  ring.  It  is  someone 
on  the  other  side.  This  man  in  the  body — no  doubt 
connected  with  her — is  either  ill  or  in  trouble. 

I  shall  be  very  surprised  if  you  don't  hear  from 
some  man  in  London.  He  is  either  there  now  or  go- 
ing to  be  there. 

Have  you  had  an  idea  or  suggestion  to  lend  some- 
body some  money*? 

J.  A.  H. :    No ;  no  idea  of  anything  of  the  kind. 

A.  W. :  I  don't  think  I  should  do  it.  It  would  not 
be  effectual  in  what  it  was  meant  to  do.  It  would  not 
prove  effective. 

There  are  a  lot  of  phantom  forms  about. 

There  is  some  woman  called  Elizabeth.  She 
couldn't  swallow  very  well.  I  think  she  has  to  do  with 
that  old  lady  who  never  had  a  headache  in  her  life. 
Not  so  old  as  Mary.  Black  dress,  black  bonnet.  Eliz- 
abeth.   Belongs  to  the  old  lady.    A  long  time  ill.    She 


128        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

couldn't  swallow.     Might  have  choked.     Related  to 
the  old  woman,  I  think. 

[No  relative  Elizabeth  known  to  us.     But  see 
later.  ] 

I  do  feel  baffled  about  that  woman  who  had  to  do 
with  a  school.  She  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  where 
she  was. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  will  make  inquiries.  I  know  the  head 
teachers  of  the  Thornton  schools  for  a  long  way  back, 
but  not  the  names  of  all  the  assistants.  And  I  can't 
remember  ever  knowing  a  woman  named  Hanson.  But 
we  shall  see. 

Clairvoyance  ended.  The  medium  seemed  to  have 
been  in  particularly  good  form,  physically  and  psychi- 
cally; had  said  he  was  feeling  much  better  in  health. 
He  went  on  so  fast  that  I  had  difficulty  in  keeping  up 
with  him,  but  just  managed  it.  There  are  pauses  be- 
tween the  bursts,  which  enable  me  to  overtake  him  if 
I  get  a  few  words  behind.  After  five  minutes  of  gen- 
eral talk,  he  left  at  3.45  to  walk  to  Causeway  Foot, 
as  it  was  fine. 

I  know  of  no  man  friend  in  London  who  is  likely 
to  be  ill  or  in  trouble,  and  it  is  very  unlikely  that 
anyone  will  try  to  borrow  money  from  me.  Yet  Wil- 
kinson seemed  very  sure  of  the  letter  from  the  London 
friend  who  is  ill  or  in  trouble,  and  I  took  it  that  he  is 
to  be  the  would-be  borrower. 

The  foregoing  was  written  out  to-day,  Thursday, 
April  20th,  1916.  The  medium's  statements,  and  my 
remarks  to  him,  are  copied  from  verbatim  notes  taken 
at  the  time. 

Note:  May  4th,  1916. — I  hear  to-day  from  Mrs. 
Napier's  sister,  who  informs  me  as  follows: 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     129 

They  (Mrs.  N.  and  sister)  always  sat  at  the  back 
of  the  church,  both  at  Bromwell,  where  they  lived  for 
the  last  few  years,  and  at  Maesbury,  where  they  lived 
previously.    At  the  latter  place  there  was  no  gallery. 

[Wilkinson's  insistence  on  the  gallery — feeling 
himself  in  it,  etc. — may  have  been  purposed,  to 
show  that  the  Bromwell  church  was  meant.] 

The  vicar  at  the  Bromwell  church  has  "a  very  promi- 
nent nose  and  long  face."  He  visited  Mrs.  Napier 
during  her  last  illness. 

Mrs.  Napier's  house  was  in  Victoria  Road,  which  is 
"not  very"  long.  The  ground  floor  is  nearly  on  a  level 
with  the  road,  only  two  steps  at  the  front  door,  after  a 
path  or  drive.  It  is  thus  true  that  it  is  "not  raised 
up  like  this  one,"  for  we  have  fifteen  steps,  in  different 
places,  and  a  slope-up  garden  path.  I  have  never 
seen  Mrs.  Napier's  Bromwell  house,  nor  any  photo- 
graph of  it;  and  I  do  not  remember  hearing  any  de- 
scription of  its  elevation  from  the  road.  There  was 
a  pier-glass  in  the  drawing-room  and  a  heavy  clock 
in  the  dining-room.  But  these  are  certainties  in  nearly 
any  house.  The  pier-glass  was  in  the  dining-room  at 
one  time. 

On  the  wall  of  Mrs.  Napier's  bedroom  there  was  a 
small  photograph  of  herself.  She  was  tall — 5  ft.  ioj4 
in.  No  engraving.  The  room  seems  to  have  been 
smaller  than  this  one — i.e.  than  the  room  in  which  the 
sitting  took  place — for  I  am  told  it  was  "rather  small," 
and  had  no  bay-window.  The  room  in  which  the  sit- 
ting took  place  is  over  fifteen  feet  square,  without 
reckoning  a  large  bay-window. 

Nothing  known  about  the  brooch. 

The  sister  is  a  very  cheerful  young  lady,  usually; 


130        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

a  very  suitable  companion  for  Mrs.  Napier,  who  was 
very  fond  of  her. 

Nothing  known  about  the  worked  garment.  Mrs. 
Napier  did  very  little  fancy  work.  My  sister  once 
knitted  and  gave  her  a  white  wool  waistcoat,  with  pink 
or  blue  ribbons — very  pretty.  Just  possibly  she  was 
referring  to  this,  and  the  medium  misunderstood.  But 
of  course  I  do  not  lay  stress  on  this.  The  incident 
must  be  regarded  as  non-evidential. 

As  to  the  Elizabeth  connected  with  my  grandmother 
Hey,  a  Purcell  cousin  of  mine  remembers  quite  well  an 
Elizabeth  Ogden  who  was  some  relative  of  our  grand- 
mother Hey's — perhaps  cousin — and  with  whom  she 
was  friendly.  He  feels  almost  sure  that  this  Elizabeth 
had  something  the  matter  with  her  throat;  but  we 
cannot  ascertain.  She  lived  a  distance  away,  and  we 
are  not  in  touch  with  surviving  members  of  the  family. 

Note:  May  3d,  1916. — I  have  asked  a  local  friend 
and  former  teacher  whether  she  has  ever  known  a 
woman  named  Hanson  connected  with  a  school,  and 
she  informs  me  that  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanson  were  at 
one  time  caretakers  of  the  school  at  which  she  (my 
informant)  then  taught,  and  at  which  a  son  of  the 
Hansons  also  taught.  She  did  not  know  them  well, 
and  never  knew  their  Christian  names.  Mrs.  Hanson 
became  ill,  and  they  left  this  locality  some  years  ago. 
She  has  heard  that  Mrs.  Hanson  is  now  dead,  but 
does  not  know  where  they  went  or  where  the  surviving 
members  of  the  family  now  are. 

Sunday,  May  7th,  1916. — To-day  I  have  seen  an- 
other teacher  who  is  still  at  that  school.  She  says  that 
Mrs.  Hanson  was  of  medium  height,  and  had  grey  hair 
which  stuck  out  at  the  sides;  was  probably  nice-look- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     131 

ing  when  younger  and  in  good  health  (see  Sitting,  Jan. 
15,  1915,  pp.  82,  85).  Never  saw  her  "dressed  up," 
so  cannot  say  about  the  black  silk  dress  and  ladylike 
appearance.  Thinks  she  was  fairly  plump  when  they 
came  here,  but  she  became  spare.  Was  middle-aged 
to  elderly.  Left  this  part  about  six  years  ago;  they 
were  not  local  people,  and  were  not  here  long.  Knows 
no  Christian  names,  but  will  try  to  ascertain  or  will 
try  to  learn  where  they  went;  somewhere  in  York- 
shire, she  thinks,  not  very  far  away. 

I  never  knew  any  of  these  Hansons,  even  by  sight, 
and  it  is  unlikely — though  possible — that  they  knew 
me,  though  they  probably  knew  of  me;  particularly 
the  teacher  son,  who  would  meet  daily  several  people 
who  know  our  family  well.  The  school  and  the  cot- 
tage where  the  Hansons  lived  are  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  here,  but  not  on  the  main  road.  It  is  in  fact  a 
private  road. 

Note:  Sunday,  May  21st,  1916. — To-day  I  hear 
that  the  names  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanson  were  John 
and  Martha;  so  the  "Hannah  or  Annie"  seems  wrong. 
But  it  is  a  curious  thing  that  the  man  of  whom  in- 
quiry was  made  said  first :  "Let  me  see ;  I  forget  Mrs. 
Hanson's  name.  Some  ordinary  name — ^perhaps  Han- 
nah. No,  I  think  not  Hannah."  Apparently  he  now 
finds  it  to  have  been  Martha,  but  it  is  queer  that,  with- 
out any  suggestion,  he  first  thought  it  was  Hannah,  for 
he  was  told  nothing  whatever  of  my  sittings,  and  did 
not  know  why  his  questioner  wanted  the  name.  It 
seems  possible  that  Mrs.  Hanson  may  have  had  two 
names,  one  of  them  Hannah;  but  I  doubt  whether  I 
can  ascertain.  I  do  not  know  where  her  body  is  buried, 
or  where  she  died.     So  the  name  must  be  counted  as 


132        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

wrong,  though  the  surname  and  description  are  correct 
enough  to  suggest  irresistibly  a  certain  woman  whom 
I  had  never  heard  of,  and  who,  so  far  as  my  belief 
goes,  was  equally  unknown  to  the  medium.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  it  was  never  said  that  she  was  a 
teacher,  though  I  jumped  to  that  conclusion,  quite 
wrongly  and  unjustifiably.  She  was  "connected  with 
a  school,"  "kept  a  school,"  "had  to  do  with  children," 
etc.,  all  of  which  are  true;  and  these  inevitably  sug- 
gest a  teacher;  yet  though  this  must  almost  certainly 
have  been  the  inference  of  Mr.  Wilkinson's  normal 
mind,  he  consistently  avoided  the  mistake.  This  seems 
a  slight  but  noteworthy  indication  of  the  probability 
of  some  genuinely  external  mind  being  in  operation, 
and  giving  him  the  impressions. 

The  prediction  about  the  London  letter  and  bor- 
rower has  not  been  fulfilled,  I  am  glad  to  say. 


SITTING  9 

Monday^  June  ^th,  1916.     Present,  J.  A.  H.  and  me- 
dium  {Mr,  A.  Wilkinson). 

Medium  arrived  2.30  p.m.,  and  after  preliminary 
conversation  about  his  recent  tours,  I  handed  him  the 
same  glove  of  Mrs.  Napier's  as  before. 

A.  W. :  This  person  ought  to  be  able  to  come  by 
this  time. 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  it  looks  so. 

A.  W. :  Some  of  these  people  seem  able  to  come 
without  effort,  and  others  make  great  efforts  and  can- 
not manifest. 

There  is  an  influence  about  you  of  a  woman,  middle- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     133 

aged,  rather  tall  and  pale,  dark.  Not  old.  She  has  a 
dress  that  shines,  like  silk.  I  am  impressed  that  her 
name  was  Ingham,  or  that  somebody  belonging  to  her 
was  called  Ingham.  She  is  not  lately  dead;  she  has 
been  gone  some  time.  Her  name  would  be  Ingham. 
Do  you  know  somebody  of  that  name  who  used  to  be  a 
good  singer?  I  hear  singing.  It  isn't  this  woman, 
but  I  am  brought  into  an  atmosphere  of  singing.  There 
is  somebody  still  living,  connected  with  her,  who  is  a 
good  singer.    You  may  come  across  them. 

J.  A.  H. :     I  don't  remember  anybody  at  the  mo- 
ment. 

A.  W. :    Some  lady  has  come  with  her — an  old  lady 
called  Walker. 

[Here  I  thought  of  the  Mrs.  Walkley,  of  sitting 
of  February  17th,  1916,  p.  103.] 
[Quite  an  old  person,  with  head  bent  forward,  a  lace 
thing  about  her  shoulders  and  a  white  cap  on  her  head. 
[Correct  for  Mrs.  Walkley.] 
These  two  have  come  together,  as  if  they  knew  each 
other.    There  is  something  mixed  up  between  them. 

[Mrs.  Ingham  unrecognised,  but  I  found  two 
hours  afterwards,  on  reading  the  report  to  my  sis- 
ter, that  she  formerly  knew  a  Mrs.  Ingham,  who 
was  more  or  less  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Walkley's.    The 
description  seems  to  be  not  very  good,  for  my  sister 
remembers  Mrs.  Ingham  as  a  fine-looking  woman 
with  good  colour.     But  it  is  long  since  she  died, 
and  memory  is  uncertain.] 
There  is  a  man  here  called  James  Hill,  a  big  man, 
stout,  standing  by  that  chair,  quite  a  solid  form.    Fair 
complexion,   a  bit  sandy.     I  am  impressed   that  his 
name  is  James  Hill.    It  isn't  that  I  am  influenced  by 


134        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

thinking  of  your  name;  the  impression  is  quite  clear. 
This  man  seems  to  rrie  a  heavy  man;  corpulent,  not  a 
good  walker;  not  infirm  exactly,  but  would  be  rather 
heavy  on  his  feet.  Fresh  colour  in  face.  His  clothes 
are  coloured,  not  black.  Trousers  are  a  different  colour 
from  coat  and  vest.  Grey  jacket  and  vest,  brown 
trousers.  That  man  used  to  have  a  horse  and  trap; 
not  a  big  vehicle,  horse  not  a  heavy  horse.  That  is  a 
good  way  back,  somebody  elderly  when  you  were 
young.  He  is  brought  here  by  somebody  belonging  to 
you. 

[A  distant  relative  named  James  Hill  died  a 
few  weeks  ago.     He  lived  and  died  some  miles 
from  here,  and  not  in  the  medium's  direction.     I 
never  knew  him,  but  my  brother  and  sister  did; 
they  say  he  was  tall  and  large-framed,  but  cer- 
tainly not  stout.    He  was  a  little  over  eighty,  but 
thus  was  hardly  elderly  when  I  was  young,  unless 
"young"  means  up  to  thirty  or  so.  Nothing  known 
about  a  horse  and  trap,  though  this  may  just  pos- 
sibly be  correct.     But  on  the  whole  the  descrip- 
tion does  not  fit.     Perhaps  it  is  an  ancestor  or  col- 
lateral farther  back.] 
That    woman    comes    back — that    woman    called 
Ingham.     She  has  once  lived  about  you;  but  not  at 
the  time  of  her  death.    She  died  away  from  here.    She 
is  beckoning  me.     I  feel  that  she  knew  your  mother. 
I  am  impressed  to  say  that. 
[True.] 

[Wilkinson  had  been  handling  the  glove  off  and 
on  from  the  beginning,  but  nothing  relevant  to  the 
owner  had  appeared,  so  I  now  said:     "Better  put 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     135 

that  glove  down;  we  seem  on  another  tack."  He 
accordingly  did  so.] 
This  woman  in  question,  it  is  not  a  great  way  off 
where  she  has  lived.  It  isn't  just  about  here.  I  can 
see  lots  of  people  sitting  together  in  a  seat  as  if  in  a 
church.  That  makes  me  wonder  if  this  woman  had 
gone  to  the  same  church  as  your  mother.  That  is  my 
own  assumption. 

[It  is  true  of  Mrs.  Ingham;  she  sat  three  pews 
behind  us.] 
There  is  a  young  man  here.  He  is  tall — very  tall, 
fairly  fine  build,  not  really  thin.  A  young  man.  He 
died  very  suddenly.  He  might  have  had  his  head  bad. 
Something  happened  to  him  very  suddenly.  He  has 
a  grey  suit  on,  and  is  very  smart.  A  very  tall  young 
man.  Do  you  know,  I  have  an  impression  that  this 
young  man  was  not  just  balanced  before  he  died'? 
Perhaps  an  illness  brought  it  on.  I  feel  as  if  some- 
thing of  an  untoward  nature  had  overtaken  him,  and 
he  had  gone  suddenly.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  this  man 
did  something  that  he  shouldn't  have  done.  I  have 
a  sensation  of  violence;  it  is  very  unpleasant.  I  don't 
think  I  have  seen  that  young  man  here  before. 
J.  A.  H. :  I  wish  we  could  get  his  name. 
A.  W. :  I  feel  that  his  death  was  unusual — almost 
tragic.  This  is  not  something  that  has  happened 
lately.  He  has  been  gone  some  time;  I  can't  tell  how 
long,  but  it  is  not  beyond  your  time  of  recollection.  A 
few  years  back,  maybe. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  think  I  know  who  it  is. 

[A  distant  relative  came  to  a  tragic  end  about 
six  years  ago.  He  would  be  in  the  twenties.  He 
dressed  well  but  not  excessively  so.    Height  about 


136        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

5  ft.  8  in.,  which  is  not  "very  tall."    But  Wilkin- 
son is  very  short,  and  often  seems  to  describe  spir- 
its as  taller  than  they  really  were.    Comparing  with 
himself,  5  ft.  8  in.  is  tall.] 
I  am  interested  in  this  woman  with  a  cap  on.     One 
is  Mrs.  Walker,  and  the  other  is  Mrs.  Ingham,  I  think. 
This  Mrs.  Walker  would  be  a  nice,  mild-mannered 
woman;   refined,   ladylike,   by  her   appearance.      She 
has  not  been  dead  very  long.    It  seems  kind  of  new  to 
her. 

[True  of  Mrs.  Walkley.    She  had  an  exception- 
ally gentle  manner.     Died  February  15th,   1916. 
See  sitting  of  February  17th,  1916,  p.  103.] 
There  is  a  young  woman  named  Sarah  Ann  Hey, 
or  Sarah  Hey.    She  would  pass  away  many  years  ago, 
twenty-four  or  twenty-five  years  old.    There  is  an  old 
lady  with  her  named  Mary,  as  if  they  knew  each  other 
well.    The  young  woman's  dress  is  very  old-fashioned 
— pleated  in  the  skirt,  frilled.     She  is  taller  than  the 
old  woman.     The  latter  is  very  6ld  but  very  active. 
The  young  one  has  been  passed  on  farther  back  than 
you  will  remember,  judging  by  the  style  of  her  dress. 
She  is  connected  with  the  old  woman,  whoever  she  is. 
[Unrecognised.     But  the  active  old  woman  is 
probably  my  grandmother,  Mary  Hey — named  and 
described   before — who   was   exceptionally   active 
until  about  eighty.    There  have  been  several  Sarah 
Heys  in  our  family,  and  one  Sarah  Ann  Hey  not 
closely  connected,   who  died  about  the  age  men- 
tioned.    But  the  description  is  not  exact  enough 
for  certainty.] 
[Pause.] 
That  young  man  set  off  on  the  train  to  some  place. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     137 

I  feel  as  if  I  were  about  a  train.  This  is  the  young 
man  that  something  happened  to.  Whether  he  went 
away  I  don't  know;  but  something  happened  to  him, 
away  from  his  home.  You  won't  let  this  worry  you^ 
I  don't  want  to  say  anything  that  would  worry  you. 
J.  A.  H. :  No;  it  will  not  worry  me  at  all.  I  think 
I  know  who  it  is. 

[My  distant  relative  mentioned  was  killed  on 
the  railway,  a  few  miles  from  his  home.] 
A.  W. :    This  young  woman  has  been  gone  so  long 
that  you  may  need  to  make  inquiries  to  find  out  who 
she  is.    But  she  is  connected  up  with  your  family. 

Did  you  know  anything  about  that  man  with  the 
horse  and  trap? 

J.  A.  H. :  I  don't  remember  just  now,  but  it  may 
be  all  right. 

A.  W. :  I  am  impressed  that  that  young  man  will 
come  again.  As  if  somebody  had  brought  him.  I 
can't  get  any  more  about  him. 

That  man  with  the  horse  and  cart  must  have  be- 
longed to  your  mother.  He  was  connected  with  your 
mother.  He  had  been  a  farmer,  I  think;  his  appear- 
ance looks  like  that. 

[Certainly  wrong,  I  think,  and  a  curious  exarri- 

ple  of  confusion,  for  Wilkinson  had  given  the  name 

as  James  Hill,  which  obviously  places  him  on  my 

father's  side.     My  mother  had  no  Hill  relatives 

that  I  know  of,  except  through  my  father.] 

That  young  woman — I  think  you  have  got  a  picture 

of  her,  with  a  "bustle"  on.     It  looks  like  a  miniature. 

She  is  of  your  family,  and  she  comes  with  the  old 

woman  called  Mary.     It  is  your  mother's  side  of  the 

family  that  she  belongs  to. 


138        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

[True,  if  it  does  turn  out  to  be  anybody.    Will 
look  up  old  photographs.     But  the  "bustle"  days 
are  within  my  recollection,  and  I  think  no  Sarah 
Hey  that  we  know  of  has  died  so  recently;  more- 
over, in  the  earlier  part  of  the  sitting  Wilkinson 
thought  the  dress  indicated  a  period  before  my 
time.] 
Have  you  had   somebody   here   just   lately,    very 
lively?    I  feel  somebody's  presence,  and  as  if  they  had 
been  talking  a  lot  and  laughing.     I  feel  very  lively; 
not  frivolous,  but  full  of  talk  and  fun.    It  was  a  man. 
J.  A.  H. :     I  don't  remember  anybody  of  the  sort 
lately.    My  brother  called  on  Saturday,  but  there  was 
no  special  liveliness :  all  cheerful,  but  no  laughing  that 
I  remember. 

A.  W. :    Does  he  often  call  ? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  pretty  often. 

A.  W. :    It  is  somebody  who  is  not  2,  frequent  caller. 
Perhaps  somebody  who  is  coming. 
Has  your  brother  two  names'? 
J.A.  H.:    Yes. 

A.  W. :  Has  he  lost  somebody  lately? 
J.  A.  H. :    Not  by  death,  but  a  daughter  of  his  has 
got  married  lately. 

A.  W.:  Oh!  is  that  all?  Well,  she  isn't  lost.  But 
I  see  over  your  head  a  big  3.  This  3  is  in  a  kind  of 
discoloured  light.  It  is  shaped  like  an  egg,  and  there 
is  speckled  greyish  matter  round.  Something  to  do 
with  you,  and  the  colour  does  not  lend  any  enchant- 
ment. It  is  not  an  omen  of  danger,  but  more  of  a 
warning.  Perhaps  in  three  days  or  three  weeks  you 
ought  to  be  specially  careful  about  something. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     139 

You  don't  know  if  there  was  somebody  born  in 
1861? 

J.  A.  H. :    No;  nobody  that  I  know  of.    My  brother 
was  born  in  1858;  that's  the  nearest  I  can  think  of. 

A.  W. :  I  see  May,  1861.  Something  happened 
then — something  rather  important  in  your  family. 
That  was  before  you  were  born*? 
J.  A.  H. :  Yes ;  a  fair  while  before. 
A.  W. :  Oh!  I've  something  to  tell  you.  You  re- 
member when  I  was  here  before,  I  got  the  name  of  a 
farm — I  forget  what  it  was.  Well,  when  I  was  walk- 
ing home  from  here  I  saw  a  bill  stuck  up  [on  the  end 
of  a  public-house  up  the  road,  I  think  he  said,  but  I 
missed  getting  that  down]  advertising  the  sale  of  cat- 
tle, etc.,  at  a  farm  of  that  same  name.  I  had  never 
heard  of  it  before. 

J.  A.  H.:    Was  it  Levensley*? 
A.  W. :    I  don't  remember.     But  I  know  the  name 
on  the  bill  was  the  name  I  had  got  here,  and  I  thought 
it  was  perhaps  just  a  prediction  of  something  I  was 
going  to  see. 

[At  the  sitting  of  April  19th  he  got  a  Jim  Hey 
and  a  Joe  Robinson  associated  with  Levensley; 
both  names  unknown  to  me.  But  when  he  men- 
tioned the  poster  I  remembered  that  a  Levensley 
farm,  with  stock,  was  recently  sold,  the  owner, 
Thomas  Robinson,  having  died.  So  the  Joe  Rob- 
inson may  have  meaning.  There  are  two  farms 
at  Levensley,  and  I  was  thinking  of  the  other  one, 
which  I  know  best;  hence  my  failure  to  see  the 
appropriateness  of  the  name  Robinson. 

Later,  October  31st,  1916. — I  find  that  Thomas 
Robinson's   father  was  named  Joseph,   and   was 


140        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

known  as  Joe;  and  he  lived  at  that  same  farm,  dy- 
ing many  years  ago.  So  the  medium  was  right. 
Probably  both  knew  me  by  sight,  but  I  did  not 
know  them.  See  p.  124.] 
A.  W. :  Have  you  known  somebody  called  Purcell  ? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

A.  W. :     A  young  man  of  that  name  died.     I  am 
impressed  that   there   was  some  young  man.      I   am 
taken   somewhere   outside,   to  somebody  who   would 
know  him.     Near  by.     Purcell — that  is  the  name.     Is 
there  somebody  called  Jabez  Purcell? 
J.  A.  H. :    There  was. 
A.  W. :    Has  he  passed  away? 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

[This  house  was  owned  and  occupied,  some 
years  ago — not  immediately  before  our  tenancy — 
by  a  Mr.  Purcell.  His  father,  who  died  about 
thirty  years  ago  (in  1881,  I  find),  was  Jabez  Pur- 
cell. The  young  man  is  probably  Harry  Purcell 
— grandson  of  Jabez — who  died  a  few  years  ago, 
aged  about  twenty-eight.  I  hardly  knew  him; 
he  lived  in  another  town  a  few  miles  away.  But 
the  medium's  impression  that  there  was  someone 
near  who  would  know  him  is  correct,  for  an  uncle 
and  two  cousins  of  Harry  Purcell's  live  within  half 
a  mile  from  here.  I  know  them  all  fairly  inti- 
mately. Harry  Purcell  used  to  visit  this  house  oc- 
casionally, when  his  uncle  lived  here.] 
You  don't  know  if  there  has  been  somebody  called 
Lewis  who  lived  in  this  house? 

J.  A.  H. :    No;  but  I  once  knew  somebody  of  that 
name. 

A.  W. :     There  is  somebody  called  Lewis,  living 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     141 

somewhere  away  from  here,  and  you  will  hear  some- 
thing that  will  interest  you.  It  is  somebody  in  the 
body. 

[Mrs.  Lewis,  no  doubt.    There  was  a  good  deal 
about  them  in  my  sitting  of  January  19th,  1916, 
pp.  94-96.] 
I  can  see  that  3  again.    It  isn't  so  murky  as  it  was. 
Have  you  a  family  record  of  births'? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  but  it  doesn't  go  very  far  back. 
A.  W. :    Somebody  was  born  May  7th  or  17th,  1861. 
It  is  mixed  up,  but  I  can't  help  it. 

Did  any  of  your  mother's  people  live  at  Denholme^ 
J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  think  so. 

A.  W. :  I  have  a  vision  of  a  man,  and  I  feel  to  be 
taken  up  that  road,  to  Denholme.  I  come  at  a  place 
almost  by  itself.  It  looks  like  a  bit  of  a  farm,  but 
not  much  of  one.  I  feel  to  get  there,  and  I  can't  get 
any  farther.  It  seems  towards  Denholme.  It  seems 
of  your  mother's  family,  though  I  don't  see  your 
mother. 

[My  mother's   father,   and  she  herself  before 

marriage,  lived  for  a  time  on  a  small  and  rather 

lonely  farm,  up  the  road  indicated.     It  is  not  in 

Denholme,  but  it  is  in  that  direction,  and  is  pretty 

near  Denholme's  boundary.] 

Clairvoyance   ended.     Wilkinson  had   a  cold   and 

was  not  in  very  good  form.    Things  seemed  more  vague 

and  mixed  up  than  usual.    He  left  at  3.30  p.m. 

Note:  June  27th,  1916. — Three  weeks  have  now 
passed  since  the  sitting,  and  nothing  has  happened  that 
can  with  certainty  be  fitted  in  with  the  3  which  seemed 
to  be  a  warning  to  be  careful  about  something  in  three 
days  or  three  weeks.     One  thing,  however,  is  worth 


142        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

noting.  It  happened  that  on  the  7th  inst. — the  third 
day  if  we  count  the  day  of  the  sitting  as  one — there 
called  a  man  who  had  not  called  for  some  years,  and 
who  was  somewhat  insistent  on  seeing  me.  He  is  well- 
intentioned,  but  rather  vehement  and  dogmatic.  On 
the  occasion  of  a  previous  visit,  when  the  worthy  gen- 
tleman had  offered  doctrinal  consolations  of  an  unfor- 
tunately unacceptable  character,  I  foolishly  allowed 
myself  to  argue  some  points ;  and  argument  is  not  good 
for  anyone  with  a  wrenched  heart,  as  I  soon  found  out. 
So  I  thought  it  better  not  to  see  him  when  he  called 
on  the  7th.  Perhaps  the  3  was  a  warning  of  his  ap- 
proaching call,  and  a  suggestion  that  I  had  better  not 
see  him.  He  said  he  had  been  contemplating  the  call 
for  some  days,  and  it  may  be  that  some  friend  of  mine 
on  the  other  side  became  aware  of  the  fact  and  showed 
Wilkinson  the  murky  3,  impressing  him  that  I  was  to 
be  careful  on  the  third  day. 


SITTING  10 

Wednesday,  August  2nd,  1916.  Present,  J,  A.  JJ.,  the 
medium,  and — for  part  of  the  time — my  sister 
M.  H.,  and  Mr.  Percy  Lund, 

On  the  morning  of  August  2nd  I  received  a  postcard 
from  my  friend,  Mr.  Lund,  saying  that  he  would  be 
coming  up  in  the  afternoon.  He  had  never  met  Mr. 
Wilkinson,  nor  had  I  ever  mentioned  him  to  the  latter, 
so,  as  I  had  a  sitting  booked  for  this  date  (August 
2nd),  I  telephoned  P.  L.  to  be  here  at  2.30  p.m.,  in 
order  to  take  part.  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
Wilkinson  knew  or  had  ever  heard  of  him. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     143 

The  medium  arrived  at  2. 10  p.m.  My  sister  brought 
him  in,  and  the  three  of  us  talked  about  W.'s  walk 
over,  for  there  are  various  ways,  and  he  had  got  lost. 
At  2.20  my  sister  (M.  H.)  went  out,  saying  to  me: 
"Shall  I  show  Mr.  Lund  in  when  he  comes"?"  This 
gave  away  the  name,  as  she  realised  a  second  too  late. 
However,  it  did  not  matter  much,  as  the  sitting  yielded 
little  that  was  evidential  in  regard  to  him.  I  pro- 
ceeded to  explain  to  the  medium  that  I  expected  a 
friend  of  mine  who  was  interested  in  the  subject,  etc., 
but  at  2.35  I  said  I  thought  he  must  have  been  pre- 
vented, and  Wilkinson  settled  himself  to  try  to  get 
clairvoyance  for  me  in  the  usual  way.  After  a  few 
minutes  he  began  to  get  impressions. 

A.  W. :  I  see  behind  you  a  reservoir  and  a  farm.  I 
see  an  old  man  and  woman  from  this  farm,  and  I  see 
a  picture  of  a  reservoir.  The  man  is  tall,  fairly  big, 
and  leans  a  bit.  He  looks  like  a  farmer.  His  name 
is  Thomas.  I  have  a  strong  impression  that  the  wom- 
an's name  is  Betty.  I  can't  tell  where  this  water  is,  but 
it  is  still,  not  running.  It  is  a  reservoir.  It  was  a 
very  clear  picture.  My  impression  was  of  a  Thomas 
and  Betty,  as  if  it  were  a  man  and  his  wife,  both  old 
people. 

[My  father  had  an  uncle  named  Thomas  Lee, 
and  his  wife  was  Betty  Lee.  They  were  farmers, 
and  lived  about  a  mile  from  here.  Thomas  was 
over  eighty  when  he  died,  about  fourteen  years 
ago.  I  knew  him  only  slightly.  His  wife  pre- 
deceased him.  There  is  no  reservoir  within  a  mile 
or  so  of  the  farm,  and  the  water  of  the  one  at  that 
distance  is  not  visible  from  the  farm  (being  higher 
up),  though  its  embankment  may  be.     I  do  not 


144        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

think  Thomas  was  tall ;  he  was  about  average.    But 

Wilkinson  nearly  always  describes  spirit  people  as 

taller  than  they  actually  were.    He  himself  is  very 

short.  ] 

If  that  man  [Lund]  doesn't  come,  I  should  like  your 

sister  to  come  in.     Ask  your  sister  to  come  in,  if  she 

is  staying  in  the  house. 

[I  rang,  and  my  sister  came.] 
J.  A.  H.  to  M.  H. :    Lund  doesn't  seem  to  be  com- 
ing, so  will  you  come  in?     [M.  H.  came  in.] 

A.  W. :  There  is  some  old  woman,  a  very  old 
woman,  over  eighty.  Yes,  evidently  you  were  wanted 
[to  M.  H.].  She  would  be  eighty- four  or  eighty-five. 
Rather  an  old-fashioned  dress  on,  kind  of  pleated  or 
puffed.  Name,  Amelia.  That  would  be  her  name. 
People  might  call  her  Millie.  A  very  old  woman; 
seems  to  have  gone  down  with  age.  I  don't  think 
she  has  been  deceased  long;  she  hasn't  got  clear  away 
from  here.  I  think  there  was  somebody  connected  with 
this  woman — a  youngish  man;  thirty-three  or  thirty- 
four.  He  stands  up  by  her.  He  has  been  gone  longer 
than  her.  They  seem  to  know  each  other.  He  pre- 
deceased her.  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the  name 
Amelia.  It  isn't  a  very  common  name. 
M.  H.:    No. 

A.  W. :  That  lady's  husband  was  John.  He  pre- 
deceased her.  He  would  be  much  younger  at  death 
than  she  was  when  she  died.  Been  gone  some  time. 
John  and  Amelia.  You  don't  often  hear  that  name 
now. 

[I  recognised  none  of  this,  but  after  the  de- 
parture of  the  medium  my  sister  reminded  me  of 
John  Holden  and  his  wife  Amelia,  whom  the  de- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     145 

scription  certainly  fits.  They  lived  in  our  neigh- 
bourhood. John  Holden  was  my  maternal  grand- 
father's cousin,  but  I  think  few  people  knew  of 
the  relationship.  He  died  a  long  time  ago — per- 
haps thirty  )^ears.  His  wife,  whom  my  grand- 
mother called  Millie,  died  about  ten  years  ago 
(1910,  I  find),  aged  over  eighty — probably  eighty- 
four  or  eighty-five.  I  dimly  remember  or  seem  to 
remember  that  a  son  of  theirs  died  when  young- 
ish, say  thirty  or  so,  but  my  sister  remembers  noth- 
ing of  this.  She  knew  the  old  lady  Amelia  well, 
much  better  than  I  did.  Hence  perhaps  Wilkin- 
son's strong  impression  that  M.  H.  was  wanted  in 
the  room,  Mrs.  Holden  being  thus  helped  to  mani- 
fest. 

[Later,   September   16th,    1916:     I  find   after 

much  inquiry   that   the  son   died   in    1889,    ^g^^ 

thirty-one,  and  his  father  in  1888,  aged  sixty-five.] 

A.  W.  to  J.  A.  H. :     There  seem  to  be  a  lot  of 

farmers  about  you.     Somebody  died  at  a  farm.     But 

you  are  not  farmers  *? 

J.  A.  H. :    No;  but  some  of  our  folk  may  have  been, 

a  long  way  back.     [At  this  point  Lund  arrived.     M. 

H.  brought  him  in,  and  I  introduced  him  without  name 

as  a  friend  interested  in  these  things.] 

A.  W. :     There's  somebody  connected  with  Betty, 

called  Clapham  or  Clapton.    I  don't  know,  but  I  think 

Betty  might  be  a  Wesleyan.    It  would  make  one  think 

they  still  have  clingings  to  the  church  they  went  to. 

[No  Clapton  or  Clapham  known,  but  will  in- 
quire about  Betty's  maiden  name,  etc.  She  was  a 
Wesleyan.] 


146        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

A.  W.  to  P.  L. :  You  might  sit  over  there;  the  sun 
is  on  you. 

[P.  L.  moved  to  couch.] 

This  Thomas  and  Betty  kept  a  farm,  and  not  very 
far  away  was  a  sheet  of  water.  That  is  vividly  im- 
pressed on  me. 

There  is  some  man  here  who  might  have  been  a 
schoolmaster;  there  is  something  over  his  shoulders 
like  a  gown.  A  scholar.  Middle-aged;  about  sixty, 
rather  tall.  Did  you  ever  know  somebody  called  Wal- 
dron— W-A-L-D-R-0-N?  [to  M.  H.] 

M.  H.:    Yes. 

A.  W. :  Thomas  Waldron.  I  think  it  is  Waldron. 
Probably  this  man  had  been  a  professor  or  school- 
master. He  has  a  lot  of  books  with  him.  He  is  "well 
up."  A  classical  man,  good  at  Latin.  I  see  books, 
which  I  should  call  Latin.  He  is  just  by  that  bookcase 
[south-east  corner  of  room].  He  has  been  deceased 
about  twelve  years,  I  should  think;  probably  more. 
[Pause.] 

J.  A.  H. :    All  that  is  very  good. 

A.  W. :  This  man  was  very  fond  of  boys — teach- 
ing boys.  He  was  a  bit  Churchy;  I  should  not  think 
he  was  a  dissenter — more  Churchy.  The  letters  on 
those  big  books  are  red  and  black.  I  can  see  they  are 
Latin.  He  has  a  big  book  with  HOMER  on  it. 
Would  that  be  the  name  of  the  writer,  perhaps? 

P.  L. :    Very  likely. 

A.  W. :  Big  leather  binding.  Homer  is  the  name 
of  the  writer.  The  man  would  be  about  sixty  when 
he  died,  and  he  was  not  ill  long.  Very  fond  of  books ; 
a  very  interesting  man. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     147 

This  man  has  been  gone  longer  than  I  said.     He 
is  telling  me  something.     How  long  did  I  say"? 
M.  H. :    Twelve  years. 
A.  W. :    It  is  longer  than  that. 

[Thomas  Waldron  was  headmaster  of  Thornton 
Grammar  School  from  about   1875   to   1898,   in 
which  latter  year  he  died  very  suddenly — cerebral 
haemorrhage — without  having  been  in  bed  ill  at  all. 
I  was  at  the  school  from  1878  to  1886.     Pope's 
translation  of  Homer  was  in  the  school  library, 
and  I  remember  fairly  revelling  in  the  Iliad.     I 
do  not  remember  that  Mr.  Waldron  knew  any- 
thing about  that,  for  the  boys  took  home  what 
books  they  liked;  but  no  doubt  he  would  look  at 
the  librarian's  book  sometimes,   to  see  what  we 
mostly  read.     Or  he  may  have  questioned  us.     I 
don't  remember.     Mr.  Waldron  was  a  classical 
man,  specially  good  at  Latin.    He  wore  a  gown  in 
school.     He  was  a  Churchman,  and  took  Orders 
about  two  years  before  his  death,  probably  with* 
the  idea  of  a  curacy.    His  age  at  death  was  between 
fifty -nine  and  sixty.     He  was  not  tall,  however ; 
here  Wilkinson  makes  his  usual  mistake.] 
A.  W.  to  P.  L. :     I  am  taken  to  Pudsey  with  you 
by  tram.     I  never  was  in  Pudsey  myself.     There  is 
a  man,  rather  stout,  fresh  complexion,  not  very  old. 
He  has  a  very  enthusiastic  manner;  a  bit  fussy.    Seems 
as  if  he  has  impressed  me  to  go  to  Pudsey.     You  had 
better  make   yourself  better  acquainted  with  some- 
body at  Pudsey.     I  think  this  man  is  living,  in  the 
body,  but  I  cannot  be  certain.     I  shall  be  very  much 
surprised  if  you  do  not  have  some  association  with 
Pudsey,  if  you  have  not  had  some  already.    There  is 


148        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

something  that  links  you  up  with  Pudsey — something 
to  do  with  a  chapel  there — a  big  chapel. 

You  have  brought  someone  with  you,  a  young  man 
who  died  very  suddenly.  Rather  tall,  moderately  well 
built,  age  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven,  rather  fair  mous- 
tache, not  very  heavy,  well-dressed.  Died  very  sud- 
denly. Makes  me  feel  that  his  death  was  the  result  of 
some  untoward  happening,  not  a  natural  decease.  He 
is  a  very  real  presence  to  me — appears  quite  objective. 
As  if  he  had  come  with  you  [P.  L.] . 

[Mr.  Lund  has  no  special  associations  with  Pud- 
sey.   But  the  young  man  seems  to  be  probably  the 
young  man  who  was  described  at  my  Sitting  of 
June  5th,  pp.  135-137,  and  who,  Wilkinson  then 
felt,  would  come  again.    He  was  a  very  distant  rel- 
ative of  mine,  who  did  not  live  about  here,  and 
he  died  suddenly  and  tragically.     It  happens  that 
though  he  was  related  to  me  and  not  to  Mr.  Lund, 
the  latter  had  known  him  personally,  and  I  had 
not.     This,  perhaps,  explains  Wilkinson's  remark 
that  the  spirit  seemed  to  be  with  P.  L.] 
A.  W.  [still  to  P.  L.]  :    There  is  a  very  funny  smell 
where  you  have  been.     Something  very  fusty;  I  don't 
know  what  to  liken  it  to — ^perhaps  a  bit  like  tallow. 
Like  a  shut-up  room.    Have  you  had  those  clothes  on 
all  day? 

P.  L. :    Yes,  to-day  and  yesterday. 
A.  W. :     I  don't  think  it  has  anything  to  do  with 
that  young  man.     Did  you  know  him?     Fairly  long 
features,  good  nose,  straight. 

P.  L. :    I'm  not  sure.    It  might  do  for  two  or  three. 
A.  W.  [to  M.  H.] :    That  old  lady  doesn't  leave 
you.    Do  you  know  her? 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     149 

M.  H. :    I  have  an  idea. 

A.  W.:  You  might  find  out  that  this  lady  lost  a 
young  man.  [To  P.  L.]  I  am  interested  in  the  smell 
I  get  from  you. 

J.  A.  H.  to  P.  L. :    Isn't  that  correct*? 
P.  L. :    I  can't  think  of  anything.    Tobacco? 
A.  W. :    No ;  it  seems  continual,  in  the  atmosphere, 
impregnated  with  it.     Have  vou  ever  known  a  man 
at  Pudsey  named  Joseph? 

P.  L. :  My  associations  with  Pudsey  were  long  ago, 
and  very  slight. 

A.  W. :  This  might  be  remote.  Man  named  Joseph, 
went  to  a  big  chapel.  He  was  a  prominent  man  at  the 
chapel.  I  think  it  will  be  worth  your  while  to  put  it 
down. 

[To  M.  H.] :  You  remember  me  speaking  about 
Thomas  Waldron?  There  is  some  woman  connected 
with  this  man;  she  is  in  the  body,  about  seventy  years 
of  age.  You  may  hear  of  her  soon.  Some  circum- 
stances linked  up  with  this  man. 

[Mr.  Waldron's  widow  is  living,  about  forty 
miles  away.  She  left  this  district  about  1901,  and 
neither  he  nor  she  had  or  have  any  relatives  about 
here.  The  age  is  about  right.  She  is  a  little  over 
seventy. 

The  smell  associated  with  P.  L.  I  thought  was 
perhaps  printers'  ink,  indicating  the  nature  of  his 
business,  in  which,  however,  he  does  not  now  take  a 
very  active  part.  Wilkinson  sometimes  gets  the 
former  earth-occupations  of  spirits  by  a  psychical 
smell-perception,  as  when  he  smelt  brewing  after 
describing  Edmund  Driver,  the  hotel-keeper,  in  my 
sitting  of  February  17th,  1916.] 


150        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

A.  W.  to  P.  L. :  There  is  a  very  strong  orthodoxy 
about  you.  You  are  a  bit  narrow  in  your  views,  re- 
ligiously. 

[Laughter  on  part  of  sitters,  for  P.  L.  is  not 

narrow  theologically.    But  there  is  a  sort  of  truth 

in  it,  for  he  dislikes  psychical  research.] 

It  is  a  kind  of  atmosphere.     I  feel  limited.     You 

can't  go  beyond  it.    It  may  be  due  to  your  associations. 

J.  A.  H.  to  A.  W. :    All  this  is  a  bit  rough  on  him. 

A.  W. :     It  is  due  sometimes  to  those  who  come 

about  people.     It  may  be  somebody  on  the  other  side. 

[To  P.  L.]  :    I  shall  be  surprised  if  you  don't  discover 

something  about  a  man  who  lived  and  died  at  Pudsey 

a  long  time  since.     [ToJ.  A.  H.]:    You  remember  me 

seeing  an  old  man  here  a  time  or  two — a  man  with  a 

funny  name? 

J.  A.  H. :  Yes;  Leather,  perhaps. 
A.  W.:  That's  it.  He  is  here.  He  has  a  lady 
with  him;  very  young,  beside  him.  Quite  youthful. 
I  know  the  man's  face  well;  I  have  seen  him  before. 
[To  M.  H.]  :  The  lady  is  about  your  age.  They  are 
together.  Her  name  was  Sarah.  She  might  be  some 
relation  to  the  man.    However,  her  name  was  Sarah. 

[Mr.  Leather's  wife's  name  was  Sarah.  She 
died  December  14th,  1866,  aged  thirty-eight.  This 
is  the  first  time  she  has  been  mentioned  at  my 
sittings.  The  Leather  tombstone  is  in  an  almost 
inaccessible  part  of  a  private  cemetery,  away  from 
the  path,  and  the  lettering  is  unreadable  except  at 
close  range.  I  once  asked  Wilkinson  whether  he 
had  ever  been  in  that  cemetery  (after  he  had  got 
Mr.  Leather's  full  name),  and  he  said  he  had  never 
been  in  any  local  cemetery.     See  p.  27.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     151 

A.  W.  to  P.  L. :  Have  you  some  lady  belonging  to 
you  who  is  not  well,  troubled  with  her  heart?  She 
has  a  weak  heart:  liable  to  heart  failure.  I  feel  a 
faint  come  over  me.  It  seems  a  continual  thing;  keeps 
happening.  She  should  not  go  away  from  home;  not 
to  the  seaside — I  feel  like  that;  just  take  it  for  what  it 
is  worth.  [Not  specially  applicable.]  To  go  away 
from  home  would  be  unwise  just  now.  I  don't  mean 
just  going  out  of  doors;  I  mean  going  away.  She  is 
better  at  home. 

[P.  L.'s  wife  has  occasional  trouble  with  a  weak 
heart  if  she  does  too  much,  but  she  lives  a  normal 
life,  goes  away  a  good  deal,  is  active  in  philan- 
thropic work,  and  has  been  quite  up  to  par  lately.  ] 
A.  W.  to  M.  H. :    Have  you  had  some  friend  once 
named  Downs?  ' 

M.  H. :    No;  but  it  is  a  fairly  common  name. 

[We  know  several  people  of  that  name,  alive 
and  dead.] 
A.  W. :     That  young  man  who  died  suddenly — it 
would  be  a  shock  to  his  people.    Quite  a  consternation 
brought  about  by  his  death. 
P.  L. :    Can  you  get  his  name? 
A.  W. :     I'm  trying.     Perhaps  the  exciting  circum- 
stances of  his  passing,  and  this  being  the  first  time  he 
has  come,  it  may  be  difficult  for  him  to  get  his  name 
through. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  think  he  has  been  before. 
A.  W. :    I  don't  remember  that  he  has. 

[Medium  looked  at  me  in  a  very  puzzled  way, 
evidently  thinking  that  the  spirit  belonged  to  Mr. 
Lund,  and  therefore  would  not  have  been  before. 
The  explanation  probably  is,  as  already  said,  that. 


152        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

though  the  young  man  was  a  distant  relative  of 
my  own,  I  had  never  known  him,  while  P.  L.  had.] 
That  man  that's  a  schoolmaster  is  looking  at  all  the 
books.    He  has  not  been  here  before. 

[True,  and  I  am  quite  sure  I  have  never  men- 
tioned him  to  the  medium.  ] 
J.  A.  H. :     Glad  to  hear  of  him ;  we  hope  he  will 
come  again. 

A.  W. :  You  will  hear  something  as  a  sequel  to 
this  man  coming.  A  very  scholarly  man.  Bit  churchy. 
They  make  you  feel  creepy,  these  Churchmen ! 

J.  A.  H. :    But  Mr.  Waldron  was  an  excellent  sort. 
[Wilkinson  once  was  reprimanded  for  his  spir- 
itualism by  a  vigorously  dogmatic  and  rather  ill- 
mannered   vicar;    and,    being   no   match    for   his 
assailant  in  argument,  he  not  unnaturally  rather 
dreads  a  clergyman.] 
A.  W.  to  P.  L. :    Have  you  ever  sat  at  a  table  to 
get  movements'? 

P.  L. :    Yes ;  a  long  time  since. 
A.  W. :    How  long  since  ? 
P.  L. :    About  fifteen  years. 

A.  W. :  Lot  of  people  about  you,  but  it's  all 
moidered  up.  All  chapel  folks,  very  orthodox  atmos- 
phere, very  conservative  in  their  views. 

[P.  L.  considers  this  untrue  as  to  his  immediate 
ancestors  and  relatives  generally.] 
I  wish  I  could  come  in  contact  mentally  with  that 
young  man,  but  all  is  chaos  about  my  head.     Can't 
get  anything  clear.    This  won't  worry  you? 
P.  L. :    No,  not  at  all. 

[The  young  man  had  been  ill  for  some  months 
before  his  death.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     153 

A.  W. :    It  would  be  good  if  that  schoolmaster  could 
get  something  through. 

J.  A.  H. :     I  wish  he  could  spell  something  out  in 
Latin. 

[Medium  wrote  automatically  a  word  or  two, 
but  it  turned  out  to  be  only  "Waldron,  Thomas."] 
M.  H. :    He  hasn't  said  who  brought  him? 
A.W.:    No. 
J.  A.  H. :    That  would  be  interesting. 

[He  and  Mr.   Leather  were  intimate  friends; 
probably  the  latter  brought  him,  as  he  has  brought 
others.  ] 
A.  W. :    He  would  have  been  a  very  old  man  if  he 
had  been  living  now. 

[Not  very;  he  would  have  been  seventy-eight, 
but  used  to  look  older  than  his  years.] 
I  can  go  back  to  that  farm  that  I  saw  at  first. 
There's  somebody  living,  belonging  to  that  old  couple. 
You  might  discover  somebody  called  Clapham.  She 
would  be  a  Wesleyan.  That  is  vividly  impressed  on 
me. 

[To  P.  L.j  :  I  can't  understand  about  that  funny 
smell  with  you.  Just  as  if  it  was  brought  in  wafts. 
You  have  been  quite  well  lately*? 
P.  L. :  Yes,  except  for  hay  fever. 
A.  W. :  You  have  been  in  some  place  which  is  not 
altogether  congenial  to  you.  That  is  the  idea,  what- 
ever it  is.  [To  M.  H.]  :  There  is  a  lady  beside  you, 
shorter  than  you,  hair  smooth,  no  colour,  delicate- 
looking.  I  should  call  her  about  sixty.  Black  dress, 
lace  about  neck;  brooch.  Plain  dress;  good.  Thin, 
pale  fingers.  She  must  have  been  delicate,  something 
with  the  chest.    Ailing  a  while.     She  knows  you  [i.e. 


154        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

M.  H.  ] .  Name,  Mary.  Looks  into  your  face  as  if  she 
knew  you.  Been  deceased  many  years.  Not  so  tall 
as  you.  The  woman  I  saw  before^ — Millie — must  have 
known  her;  they  seem  to  recognise  each  other. 

[My  mother;  cancer  of  breast;  died  1886.    Not 

evidential,  because  given  before.     The  statement 

that  she  knew  Millie,  however,  is  new  and  true. 

Millie  has  not  appeared  or  been  mentioned  at  any 

previous  sitting.] 

A.  W.  [to  nobody  in  particular] :    I  wish  I  could  get 

that  young  man  to  say  his  name.     The  circumstances 

of  his  passing  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  reach  me 

mentally.    These  are  quick  flashes. 

[To  M.  H.]  :  That  lady  that  I  have  just  seen  with 
you,  there's  an  old  man  with  her,  eighty  years  old, 
biggish,  quite  grey,  fairly  good  features,  white  shirt. 
He  builds  up  by  her.  He  is  some  close  relation  to  her 
— resemblance  in  features. 

[Mother's  father,  described  often  before.  Died 
1889.  White  shirt  very  characteristic] 
A.  W.  to  P.  L. :  If  you  sat  at  a  table  you  might 
get  some  automatism.  I  feel  a  helpful  emanation.  It 
doesn't  matter  about  not  believing,  if  only  one  is  not 
prejudiced.  Whatever  it  is  where  you  have  been,  it 
is  not  very  healthy  for  you.  You  have  been  puzzling 
something  out,  and  you  are  tired  and  closed  up. 

P.  L. :  Yes,  I  have  been  puzzling  something  out, 
that's  true. 

A.  W. :    The  smell  is  dying  away. 

[P.  L.  isn't  much  in  the  printing  works.  The 
smell  was  entirely  psychic,  I  think.  He  never 
brings  me  any  smell  of  ink  or  anything  else.  ] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     155 

J.  A.  H. :  I  wish  that  schoolmaster  would  spell  some 
Latin  out. 

A.  W. :    Perhaps  he  will  next  time.     Funny  name 
he  had — never  heard  it  before.    W-A-L-D-R-O-N. 
J.  A.  H.:    Right. 

A.  W. :    Did  he  belong  to  the  Church  of  England"? 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

A.  W.  to  P.  L. :  I  feel  as  if  I  could  preach  or  lec- 
ture to  you.  You  have  somebody,  or  will  have  some- 
body, who  is  enthusiastic  in  their  beliefs.  Must  have 
served  them  well  in  life,  as  they  stick  to  them. 
[Chuckles.]  Have  you  had  some  relation  who  was  a 
"local  preacher"?  I  feel  as  if  I  could  lecture  you, 
about  what  you  believe. 
P.  L.:    No. 

[The  impression  I  got  was  that  some  deceased 
relative  of  P.  L.'s  felt  like  castigating  him  for  his 
heresies.     But  the  evidentiality  of  what  was  said 
to  him  was  almost  nil,  the  lady's  weak  heart,  etc., 
being  almost  the  only  correct  thing,  unless  some- 
thing comes  of  the  Pudsey  Joseph.     Mr.  Lund's 
father  was  thus  named,  but  he  had  no  Pudsey 
associations  so  far  as  P.  L.  knows.  ] 
Wilkinson  left  at  4.30.    I  had  taken  verbatim  short- 
hand notes,  which  are  copied  word  for  word  in  the 
foregoing  account.    Written  out  Thursday  and  Friday, 
August  3rd  and  4th,  1916. 

Later,  January  24th,  1917 :  I  have  now  ascertained, 
from  one  of  the  very  few  people  living  who  could  tell 
it,  that  my  great-aunt  Betty  Lee,  before  her  marriage 
— i.e.  about  sixty  years  ago — lived  at  a  house  over- 
looking a  reservoir,  some  miles  from  here.  Also  that 
her  most  intimate  friends  were  named  Clapham.    The 


156        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

medium's  statements  thus  turn  out  correct,  and  are 
in  this  instance  particularly  impressive.  Whatever 
the  explanation,  it  is  not  normally-acquired  knowledge 
or  telepathy  from  me.  I  have  now  so  often  found 
Wilkinson's  statements  true,  after  much  painstaking 
inquiry,  that  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  few 
things  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  about  re- 
mote ancestors,  etc.,  are  probably  true  also. 


SITTING  11 

Monday,  September  wth,  1916.     Present,  J.  A,  H. 
and  medium  {Mr.  Tom  Tyrrell), 

This  sitting  was  arranged  by  post  some  weeks  ago, 
when  I  wrote  saying  that  I  had  heard  remarkable 
things  about  Mr.  Tyrrell's  clairvoyance,  and  that  I 
should  like  to  see  him  if  he  ever  came  into  this  neigh- 
bourhood. He  replied  that  he  was  addressing  a  Spir- 
itualist Society  at  Halifax  on  September  10th,  and 
would  come  on  the  afternoon  of  the  1  ith.  I  told  him 
nothing  about  myself  except  that  I  was  invalided  with 
an  old  heart  strain. 

Accordingly,  he  arrived  by  the  2.17  train,  and  my 
sister  met  him  on  the  road.  He  came  into  my  room 
at  once,  and  we  chatted.  He  said  he  had  never  heard 
of  me  until  I  wrote  to  him,  and  knew  nothing  about 
me;  had  never  been  in  Thornton  before,  and  in  Brad- 
ford only  once.  Told  about  his  wife,  her  milliner's 
shop,  and  how  he  went  to  the  mill  (weaver)  until  nine 
years  ago,  but  has  been  a  spiritualist  platform  speaker 
and  clairvoyant  for  over  thirty  years.  His  platform 
clairvoyance  is  normal,   though  assisted  by  a  spirit 


MEDIUM  S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     i  jy 

named  Billy  Matthews — "Owd  Billy" — whom  he 
sometimes  hears  giving  him  names.  This  Billy  has 
been  his  principal  guide  for  a  long  time,  and  was  at 
first  unknown  to  him ;  but  eventually  he  came  across  a 
woman,  not  a  spiritualist,  who  turned  out  to  be  Billy 
Matthews' s  daughter,  and  the  identification  was  estab- 
lished by  many  details.  So  says  Tyrrell;  but  this,  of 
course,  isn't  evidence. 

In  the  course  of  half  an  hour,  Tyrrell  became  quiet, 
breathed  rather  heavily  for  two  minutes,  and  "Billy" 
appeared.  Medium's  eyes  almost  closed,  and  eyeballs 
apparently  rolled  up  as  usual  in  trance. 

Billy  :  Good  afternoon,  lad.  [Leans  forward  and 
shakes  hands.]  We  are  sorry  to  see  you're  poorly,  but 
perhaps  you  don't  like  too  much  sympathy.  Now  I'm 
only  an  uneducated  men — I'm  Owd  Billy — and  I  can 
only  talk  Lancashire  dialect,  an'  tha  mayn't  under- 
stand it. 

J.  A.  H. :    Oh,  yes,  I  shall. 

B.  [after  a  minute's  silence] :  There's  a  very  old 
man  across  yonder  [indicating  a  point  near  the  win- 
dow, three  or  four  yards  away] ;  he  would  be  eighty- 
five  or  eighty-six.  He  seems  a  very  eccentric  man.  I 
don't  see  any  relationship  between  you.  Grey  mous- 
tache and  beard.  Black  clothes.  He  would  talk  very 
loud,  would  want  to  be  heard.  He  is  showing  us  a 
board — a  chess-board.  He  would  be  fond  of  chess. 
Seems  as  if  he  knew  tha,  lad.  Name  of  James  Brear- 
ley.  He  lived  in  No.  7  Ford  Street — somewhere  about 
here,  we  expect.  Talking  very  loud ;  likes  to  be  heard. 
[Pause.] 

J.  A.  H. :    I  believe  that's  very  good. 

B. :    He's  surprised  to  find  that  he  can  come  back. 


158        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Very  fond  of  playing  at  chess.     Showing  chess-board. 

Also  something  about  golf  or  bowling. 

We  can't  hold  them  long,  only  twelve  or  sixteen 

seconds.    Well,  he  seems  to  know  tha,  lad. 

[The  description  recalled  nothing  until  the  name 
was  given.  James  Brearley  was  a  superior  sort  of 
working-man,  employed  in  a  local  mill.  He  was 
an  original  character,  quite  out  of  the  ordinary  run, 
and  "eccentric"  is  applicable.  He  used  to  live  at 
Hillhead,  a  remote  outlying  part  of  the  village, 
and  we  lived  not  far  away,  from  1878  to  1897.  ^ 
saw  him  often  when  I  was  a  boy,  playing  about 
when  he  was  going  to  or  from  the  mill.  I  don't 
remember  ever  speaking  to  him,  but  he  would  know 
me  well  enough  as  the  son  of  my  father,  whom  he 
would  know  and  who  knew  him  and  his  family. 
Also  his  son  was  a  schoolfellow  of  mine,  and  we 
chummed  a  little  at  one  time.  After  1897  I  doubt 
whether  I  ever  saw  old  James,  but  I  occasionally 
heard  of  him  as  going  nearly  every  evening,  with 
another  veteran  of  over  eighty,  to  a  local  Liberal 
Club.  These  two  were  apparently  a  regular  eve- 
ning feature  of  the  club  until  Brearley's  last  illness. 
He  died  two  and  a  half  years  ago,  aged  eighty- 
three  or  eighty-four.  I  think  he  moved  from  Hill- 
head;  I  have  no  knowledge  of  his  later  address, 
but  will  inquire.  There  is  a  local  Ford  Street, 
and  it  is  likely  enough  that  he  lived  there,  for  I 
know  that  his  friend  lives  in  that  street  and  has 
lived  there  twenty  years  or  more. 

I  rather  think  there  may  be  an  explanation  of 
his  appearance,  for  though  I  should  not  have  ex- 
pected him  on  his  own  account,  it  happens  that  a 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     159 

club  frequenter  named  Townley,  whom  I  knew  well 
and  greatly  liked  when  we  were  youths  and  who  is 
often  in  my  thoughts,  died  a  few  months  ago,  and 
may  have  brought  the  old  man.  Townley  was  a 
good  chess-player,  also  an  excellent  amateur  pho- 
tographer; and  he  once  photographed  the  two  an- 
cients over  a  chess-table  at  the  club,  though  I  doubt 
whether  Brearley  was  much  of  a  player. 

As  to  the  description,  it  strikes  me  as  correct 
except  that  I  am  uncertain  about  a  beard.  I  rather 
think  he  had  only  a  grey  moustache  when  I  knew 
him,  but  I  am  not  sure. 

Later,   September   14th,    1916:     I  have  inter- 
viewed a  man  who  knew  Brearley  well,  and  he 
says  that  the  beard  is  correct  and  the  description 
strikingly  true,  particularly  the  loud  talking  and 
liking  to  be  heard.    I  did  not  know  this.  ] 
B. :    There's  a  man  here,  very  bright.    I  can  hardly 
look  at  him.     About  fifty;  been  passed  away  some 
time.     Dressed  beautifully.     Black  coat.     If  every- 
thing was  not  straight  he  would  be  very  much  put 
out.     Very  intellectual.     He  is  watching  you  writing 
it  all  down,  and  is  very  interested.     Doctor  Richard 
Hodgson;  passed  away  in  America.     We  hardly  ex- 
pect you  to  know  him,  as  he  passed  away  in  America. 
He  is  showing  us  three  books.     I  can  see  one  of  'em 
plain:     "Religion  and  Modem  Psychology,"   "New 
Evidences  in  Psychical"  [sdc] ,  and  the  other  "Survival 
Evidence,"  or  something  like  that.     He  is  holding 
these  out  to  tha.    He  is  opening  one  of  'em.     [I  think 
it  was  said  to  be  the  first-named,  but  did  not  get  that 

down.]     Why,  it  has  thy  name  in!     He  seems 

Has  ta  been  writin'  a  book,  lad? 


i6o        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

B. :    He  seems  to  be  congratulating  tha. 

J.  A.  H.:    Thanks. 

B. :  He  says :  'Tve  brought  my  old  friend,  Henry 
Sidgwick,  with  me."  I  can't  see  him.  But  tha  knows, 
lad,  tha'rt  surrahnded  with  a  beautiful  halo  of  light. 
Tha'rt  very  intellectual.  Tha'rt  a  good  judge  of  char- 
acter; it  doesn't  tak'  tha  long  to  reckon  folk  up. 

There's  a  beautiful  lady  here;  been  passed  away 
a  long,  long  time.  If  ever  a  lady  lived  good,  this  lady 
did.  She  has  spirit  robes  on,  and  she  throws  her 
mantle  over  you  as  if  to  protect  you.  Name,  Elizabeth 
Hill.  She's  brought  John  with  her.  We  don't  know 
who  it  is.    We  can  only  say  what  we  see. 

[An  Elizabeth  Hill  did  exist — but  not  a  direct 
ancestor,  I  think — about  a  century  ago.     But  the 
name  is  common.     John,  perhaps  grandfather.] 
Are  ta  fond  of  parsons,  lad? 

J.  A.  H. :    Not  particularly. 

B. :  Well,  there's  a  parson  here;  seems  interested. 
He  wants  you  to  take  it  all  down.  About  seventy-six ; 
well-built  man,  grey  moustache  and  beard.  A  good 
man.  Name,  Reverend  George  Edmondson.  He  holds 
up  a  book;  Manchester  Road  Baptists;  probably  in 
Bradford.  The  book  has  it  on.  He  lived  in  some 
Marshiield  Street;  been  passed  away  a  bit;  can't  tell 
how  long.  It's  a  funny  thing — he  is  more  anxious 
about  a  lad  he  is  bringing  than  about  himself.  There's 
been  a  bit  of  sorrow  about  this  lad;  he  is  a  cripple — 
poor  twisted  body!  He  would  be  a  shoeblack,  and 
would  sell  newspapers.  His  name  is  Micky  Scanlon, 
or  something  like   that.     A   bright,   intelligent   lad. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     161 

Lived  in  Sun  Street.    Parson  seems  to  be  helping  this 
lad.    Does  ta  knaw  who  it  is? 

J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  remember  that  I  do. 
B. :    This  lad  was  very  well  respected.    The  parson 
says  Father  O'Shaughnessy  would  know  him.     Nice, 
intelligent  lad. 

[This  about  Mr.  Edmondson,  Micky,  and  Father 
O'S.  is  meaningless  to  me.    There  is  a  Manchester 
Road  in  Bradford,  but  I  know  of  no  Baptist  chapel 
there,  though  there  may  be  one.     I  will  inquire.] 
There's  a  dog  comes  here.    Are  ta  fond  of  dogs? 
J.  A.  H. :    Not  very  specially. 
B. :    It's  a  beautiful  collie. 

J.  A.  H. :  What  is  its  name?  [Thinking  of  a  fine 
collie  named  Nip,  which  used  to  live  next  door,  dying 
a  few  months  ago.] 

B. :  Name,  Victor.  Is  there  somebody  called  Dud- 
ley belonging  to  you? 

J.  A.  H. :  Not  that  I  know  of. 
B. :  The  lower  brute  creation  passes  into  spirit  life, 
same  as  us.  There's  a  woman  comes,  and  the  dog 
appears  again.  A  beautiful  woman,  about  sixty-seven, 
very  ladylike;  a  very  religious  lady,  I  believe.  She 
is  showing  me  a  photograph,  not  exactly  a  photograph, 
but  a  small  picture.  It  has  this  dog  on  it,  sitting  on 
its  haunches.  On  the  bottom  of  the  picture  there  are 
the  words,  "Save  us."  Underneath  there  is  "Frances 
Power  Cobbe."  A  woman  very  fond  of  dogs.  She 
comes  with  the  picture  and  shows  the  dog. 

[Perhaps  this  is  out  of  the  medium's  own  mem- 
ory, for  it  must  be  assumed  that  he  knows,  as  most 
people  know,  about  Miss  Cobbe's  anti-vivisection 
activities.    It  is,  however,  noteworthy  that  I  have 


i62        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

had  Miss  Cobbe  in  mind  a  good  deal  lately,  for  I 
have  been  trying  to  get  hold  of  her  collection  of 
"Peak  in  Darien"  cases,  mentioned  by  Myers  in 
"Human  Personality."  I  wrote  to  the  L.S.A.  Li- 
brary and  to  several  book  dealers,  but  it  seems 
unobtainable.  ] 
Is  there  something  that's  puzzling  tha  at  present? 

J.  A.  H. :    No;  nothing  special  that  I  know  of. 

B. :  There's  a  lady  comes,  not  a  relation,  we  think. 
Very  frail,  about  sixty-one  or  sixty-two.  Surrounded 
with  foreign  influences.  Had  something  to  do  with 
spiritualism.  She  is  showing  us  The  Two  Worlds. 
Alice  Nicholson.  Lived  at  Rothery  Terrace,  Bradford. 
She  seems  surrounded  with  foreign  influences.  No.  1 2 
Rothery  Terrace,  Bradford. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  don't  know  her.  [But  will  inquire. 
No  Rothery  Terrace  known  to  me  at  present,  and  no 
Nicholsons.  ] 

B. :    Does  ta  know  somebody  called  Gumey? 

J.A.  H.:    Yes. 

B. :  Seems  a  man  fond  of  writing;  surrounded  a 
good  deal  with  intellectual  men.  Now  there's  a  beau- 
tiful man  of  seventy-five,  very  v/hite  hair,  clean- 
shaved,  very  spiritual,  holding  a  volume  towards  you. 
On  this  book  is  "Art  Journal";  underneath  "Samuel 
Carter  Hall."  A  very  beautiful  gentleman.  Very 
much  interested.    Are  ta  fond  of  pictures*? 

J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

B. :    He  was  a  very  good,  religious  man. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  have  heard  of  him. 

B. :  He  seems  to  be  encouraging  you  to  write  some- 
thing, to  keep  on  writing,  not  to  overdo  it,  but  to  keep 
on.    They  are  helping  you. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     163 

J.  A.  H. ;    I  am  much  obliged  to  them. 
B. :    Give  way  to  the  impressions. 

[All  this  about  Gurney  and  S.  C.  Hall  may  be 
accountable  to  the  medium's  own  memory  stores. 
But  it  is  curious  that  there  was  no  mention  of 
Myers,  who  is  almost  sure  to  be  more  prominently 
in  a  spiritualist's  thoughts  than  Sidgwick,  or  Gur- 
ney, or  even  Hodgson.  And  it  is  noteworthy  that 
at  my  last  sitting  with  a  trance  medium  [Peters, 
March  3rd,  1916:  reported  later]  the  S.P.R.  group 
appeared,  Myers  included.  Hodgson  knew  of  my 
existence,  for  a  few  letters  passed  between  us  just 
before  his  death  in  America  in  1905.  His  age  was 
fifty,  as  said.  My  books  have  been  published  since 
his  death.] 
Are  ta  fond  of  studying  different  religions? 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

B. :    Tha'rt  trying  to  get  the  best  out  of  all  of  'em. 
Are  ta  fond  of  reading  Indian  religion,  Eastern"? 
J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

B. :  There  seems  to  be  an  Indian  priest  in  the  sur- 
roundings. He  is  showing  us  a  book,  but  I  can't  make 
head  or  tail  of  it.  Seems  to  be  something  about  India 
or  Indian  religion.  Man  has  a  very  black  skin,  black 
moustache,  long,  flowing  robes,  and  a  turban  with 
diamonds  at  the  front.  Seems  to  come  in  your  sur- 
roundings. Mohammedan  religion.  He  is  going  like 
this  [bowing  and  making  three  hand-sweeps  downward 
in  front  of  him],  and  saying:  *lllah  Allah  Illah" 
— something  like  that,  and  bowing  three  times.  He 
is  impressing  you  on  ancient  religion. 

[Mohammedanism  seems  an  unfortunate  selec- 
tion for  an  "ancient"  religion!] 


i64        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Are  ta  fond  of  old  castles^ 

J.  A.  H. :    Not  specially. 

B. :  Fm  sorry  we  haven't  done  better;  we  have 
to  do  the  best  we  can. 

J.  A.  H. :    You've  done  all  right,  and  I  thank  you. 

B. :  Well,  we've  got  all  we  can  for  to-day.  This 
lad  here  [medium]  isn't  in  the  best  of  trim  after  his 
work  yesterday.  Good-bye,  now,  and  God  bless  you. 
[Shakes  hands.] 

J.  A.  H. :    Good-bye,  and  God  bless  you,  too.     - 

Medium  was  himself  again  in  about  two  minutes, 
after  muttering  a  good  deal  of  a  language  unknown 
to  me  (or  gibberish).  I  asked  about  this  when  he  was 
normal,  and  he  said  he  had  an  African  control  who 
helped  Old  Billy  when  the  latter  had  difficulty  in 
getting  in  or  out.  On  this  occasion,  medium  said  he 
felt  as  if  he  had  been  very  deep.  Knows  nothing  of 
what  has  been  said  during  trance.  I  told  him  Dr. 
Richard  Hodgson  had  been,  and  asked  if  he  knew 
the  name.  He  replied:  "Wasn't  it  a  Dr.  Hodgson 
who  sat  with  Mrs.  Piper  so  much?  But  I  didn't  re- 
member his  first  name." 

In  the  report  I  have  not  reproduced  the  dialect 
carefully.  Sometimes  when  "tha"  was  said  (for 
"thou"  or  "thee")  I  wrote  the  shorthand  logogram 
for  "you"  for  speed's  sake.  Also  I  wrote  "she"  when 
Billy  used  the  Lancashire  equivalent  "hoo."  But  I 
have  not  edited  the  report  itself.  I  have  copied  it 
verbatim,  to-day,  September  l2th,  1916. 

The  medium  in  his  normal  state  speaks  quite  good 
English,  though  he  is  almost  entirely  self-educated. 
He  is  keenly  interested  in  botany  of  a  general  kind — 
trees  and  flowers  in  an  amateur  way — and  says  he 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     165; 

thinks  he  could  name  and  tell  something  about  any 
tree  that  grows  in  England.  But  he  has  a  modest 
and  pleasant  manner,  and  I  fully  believe  that  he  is 
entirely  honest  and  veracious,  and  a  quite  excellent 
man  all  round. 

After  a  cup  of  tea  he  left  at  4. 1 5  on  his  way  home 
to  Blackburn. 

Note:  September  13th,  1916. — This  morning  I 
received  from  Mr.  Tyrrell  a  letter  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  a  copy : 

54  Whalley  Banks, 

King  Street,  Blackburn. 
September  \2th,  1916. 
Dear  Mr.  Hill, 

I  arrived  home  last  night  at  10.30,  feeling  rather 
tired.  But  the  reason  I  am  writing  you  is  because  I 
had  a  very  strange  influence  hovering  about,  which  I 
could  not  understand.  A  feeling  of  disappointment, 
as  if  someone  had  wanted  to  manifest  their  presence 
but  had  not  been  able  to  do  so.  I  felt  very  uneasy  all 
the  way  coming  home  on  the  train.  I  could  neither 
read  nor  think;  the  peculiar  influence  seemed  to  domi- 
nate my  whole  being.  So  on  reaching  home  I  casually 
mentioned  the  matter  to  my  wife,  how  uneasy  I  felt. 
So  we  suggested  having  a  private  sitting  and  let  Billy 
Matthews  come  and  see  if  he  could  enlighten  us.  So 
having  had  a  very  light  supper,  we  sat  after  1 1  o'clock 
till  nearly  midnight,  and  this  is  what  we  got.  Billy 
told  my  wife  that  two  spirit  forms  had  followed  me 
home;  they  had  tried  to  manifest  their  presence  at 
your  home,  but  Billy  was  not  able  to  get  in  rapport 
with  them,  because  the  other  influences  were  stronger, 
and  he  said  I  was  rather  nervous,  which  prevented  him 


i66        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

from  using  me  to  the  best  advantage,  and  I  am  afraid 
if  I  had  known  and  read  your  articles  in  Light  and 
The  Two  Worlds  I  should  have  been  more  nervous 
still. 

[In  questioning  him  as  to  whether  he  had  ever  heard 
of  me,  I  asked  if  he  saw  Light  and  The  Two  Worlds^ 
where  my  name  often  occurs.  He  said  he  rarely  sees 
Lights  but  has  taken  The  Two  Worlds  for  many  years. 
However,  my  name  has  not  been  prominent  in  it — I 
have  written  only  one  article  for  it,  and  though  long 
reviews  of  my  books  appeared,  that  is  a  few  years 
ago — and  it  is  not  surprising  that  my  name  recalled 
nothing  to  Mr.  Tyrrell.] 

I  enjoyed  reading  the  article  in  Light  on  prayer  and 
telepathy,  culled  from  Bibbfs  Annual.  It  took  me  a 
while  to  find  the  article  in  The  Two  Worlds^  as  I  kept 
looking  for  your  signature  along  with  the  article.  But 
there  wasn't  any  name  attached  to  article  which  pre- 
sume must  be  yours,  the  one  called  "Spiritualism  the 
Comforter."  Let  me  say  I  read  it  before.  But  thought 
it  was  Mr.  Morse's  article.  There  wasn't  any  name 
to  it. 

[He  got  the  wrong  one:  mine  was  headed  by  my 
name.  ] 

I  take  it  from  the  article  that  you  must  be  a  member 
of  the  Psychical  Research  Society,  and,  candidly,  I 
have  always  had  a  natural  antipathy  to  psychical  re- 
searchers. I  read  one  of  their  books,  over  twenty  years 
ago,  and  I  thought  they  were  too  cold  and  critical,  and 
had  not  much  sympathy  for  mediums.  They  don't 
give  sensitives  much  help,  their  feelings  are  too  acrid 
and  that  feeling  causes  more  difficulty  in  getting  along. 
A  medium  is  better  when  he  feels  comfortable  and 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     167 

gets  used  to  the  sitter.  Well  now,  about  the  two  spirit 
forms :  the  one  was  a  lady,  who  came  with  a  gentleman, 
and  Billy  says  judging  from  the  magnetic  link  there 
were  strong  links  of  relationship,  probably  man  and 
wife,  but  we  don't  know.  The  lady  was  about  fifty- 
four  years  of  age  and  very  beautiful,  with  slight  wavy 
hair  and  very  pale  in  features.  She  came  in  her  beau- 
tiful spirit  robe.  The  control  said  the  gentleman  ap- 
peared to  be  about  sixty-six  years  of  age.  Billy  did 
not  describe  him,  as  the  brightness  of  the  lady  seemed 
to  overshadow  him.  Billy  thinks  they  must  have  been 
passed  into  spirit  life  a  long  time,  because  they  had 
thrown  off  all  earth's  conditions,  and  appeared  very 
bright.  They  gave  Billy  their  names  as  Bannister 
Hill  and  Mary  Hill.  They  wished  their  love  to  be 
conveyed  to  you  and  your  sister,  and  they  wish  it 
to  be  understood  they  are  helping  you  both  when  they 
can.  Of  course  I  send  you  this  for  what  it  is  worth, 
we  do  not  guarantee  anything.  Well,  now  let  me 
say  that  I  have  enjoyed  reading  your  articles,  and 
now  don't  [think]  you  were  very  dreadful  and  I  may 
think  a  wee  bit  better  of  psychical  researchers.  I  don't 
know  all  you  got  yesterday,  only  what  you  choose  to 
tell  me.  But  somehow  or  other  I  feel  a  little  bit 
sick  at  taking  your  money,  as  you  may  think  I  am 
like  the  rest  of  mediums,  that  I  am  after  all  I  can  get. 
But  it  is  not  quite  true.  I  could  have  coined  money 
this  last  thirty  years  but  have  steadfastly  refused  it, 
yet  hundreds  of  times  I  have  been  in  want  of  a  shilling. 
What  a  good  ride  it  is  from  Thornton  for  2d.  We 
have  to  pay  a  penny  for  every  ride  in  Blackburn.  Let 
me  say  I  quite  enjoyed  the  tea  with  your  sister.  Kindly 
thank  her  for  making  [me]   feel  so  comfortable  and 


i68        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

accept  all  good  wishes  yourself,  from  yours  in  the 
cause.  But  don't  ask  me  to  sit  for  any  more  psychical 
Researchers,  they  generally  give  me  a  fright. 

T.  Tyrrell. 

My  father  was  Bannister  Hill,  and  he  died  October 
22nd,  1898,  aged  sixty-six.  His  name  has  not  ap- 
peared in  any  of  my  former  writings,  nor  his  age,  nor 
date  of  death.  Mr.  Tyrrell  could  not  have  normally 
known  these  facts  unless  he  had  found  our  vault  in  one 
of  the  half-dozen  cemeteries  in  Thornton  (a  private 
one  belonging  to  a  chapel),  and  this  would  not  have 
been  a  very  easy  matter. 

My  mother,  Mary  Hill,  died  November  19th,  1886, 
aged  fifty-four.  She  was  pale,  had  been  good-looking 
in  youth,  though  perhaps  hardly  beautiful,  except  as 
regards  her  eyes.  Tyrrell's  use  of  the  word  might, 
however,  refer  to  her  spiritual  appearance.  She  was 
certainly  a  beautiful  soul.  As  to  evidentiality,  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  her  name  and  age  appeared  in  my 
book,  "New  Evidences,"  in  a  report  of  a  sitting  with 
Wilkinson;  and  though  Tyrrell  says  he  had  never 
heard  of  me  or  my  books  (and  I  believe  in  his  supra- 
liminal honesty),  we  cannot  accept  as  strongly  eviden- 
tial anything  that  has  appeared  in  print,  especially  if  it 
appeared  in  a  book  likely  to  be  read  by  many  spiritual- 
ists. Mediums  may  hear  such  books  quoted  and  dis- 
cussed, even  if  they  do  not  read  them;  and  we  must 
allow  for  subliminal  memory. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  think  it  improbable  to  the 
point  of  incredibility  that  Tyrrell  had  ever  heard  of 
my  father  or  of  James  Brearley,  so  I  do  not  accept 
the    subliminal    memory    theory    of    the    Mary   Hill 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     169 

episode.  I  provisionally  accept  the  spirit-theory  in  all 
three  cases  as  being  the  most  probable. 

Note:  September  15th,  1916. — I  have  now  looked 
up  S.  C.  Hall  in  Chambers's  Encyclopczdia^  and  find 
that  the  full  name  is  Samuel  Carter  Hall,  as  stated. 
He  was  bom  in  1800,  died  1889;  founded  and  edited 
The  Art  Journal  (1839-1880),  and  did  much  other 
literary  work.  He  was  a  prominent  spiritualist,  and 
was  the  first  chairman  of  the  British  National  Asso- 
ciation of  Spiritualists,  in  1874  (-^^^  Podmore's  "Mod- 
ern Spiritualism,"  ii.,  p.  169).  I  knew  the  name  only 
as  that  of  a  man  who  had  sat  with  D.  D.  Home.  I 
know  nothing  of  his  personal  appearance.  It  seems 
correct  that  he  was  a  particularly  good  and  philan- 
thropic man.  But  of  course  all  such  details  must  be 
assumed  to  be  known  (subliminally,  even  if  "forgot- 
ten") to  mediums,  and  to  spiritualists  generally,  so 
they  cannot  be  regarded  as  evidential. 

Note:  September  16th,  1916. — I  learn  to-day  that 
James  Brearley  lived  and  died  in  Ford  Street,  but 
have  not  yet  ascertained  the  number.  His  age  was 
eighty-three  or  eighty- four. 

Note:  September  19th,  1916. — I  learn  to-day  that 
the  Rev.  Greorge  Edmondson  was  minister  for  some 
years  at  Manchester  Road  Baptist  Church,  now  called 
Marshfield  Baptist  Church.  Also  that  a  hunchback 
named  Mickey  (surname  not  yet  ascertained)  sold 
newspapers  in  Market  Street,  Bradford,  dying  two  or 
three  years  ago.  My  informant  knew  him  personally. 
Also  that  an  Alice  Nicholson  was  a  member  of  the 
MiltcMi  Spiritualists'  Church,  Manningham,  Bradford. 
She  did  platform  work  for  various  Spiritualist  Soci- 


lyo        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

eties,  so  Tyrrell  probably  knew  her  or  knew  of  her. 
Am  seeking  further  details  about  all  three. 

Note:  September  22nd,  1916. — After  further  in- 
quiry I  find  to-day  that  the  house  in  Ford  Street  in 
which  James  Brearley  lived  and  died  is  No.  7.  Ford 
Street  is  not  on  or  near  the  route  which  the  medium 
traversed  on  his  way  here  from  the  station;  though, 
even  if  it  had  been,  it  would  not  have  given  him  the 
name  and  description  of  James  Brearley.  No  relative 
of  the  latter  is  now  living  at  No.  7  or  in  the  street. 

The  beard  is  corroborated  to-day  by  two  other  people 
who  knew  him  well,  thus  confirming  the  medium's 
statement,  which  at  the  time  I  doubted. 

Thus  every  fact  given  about  James  Brearley,  whom 
I  have  no  reason  to  believe  the  medium  had  ever  heard 
of,  turns  out  true;  except  the  chess-playing.  This 
was  the  medium's  own  inference  from  the  chess-board 
which  the  spirit  was  showing;  the  fact  seems  to  be 
that  neither  Brearley  nor  his  friend  played  chess,  but 
that  my  friend  Townley,  wanting  to  photograph  the 
two  friends,  posed  them  at  a  chess-table  and  produced 
a  particularly  good  picture,  a  copy  of  which  hangs  in 
the  club.  This  club,  it  is  necessary  to  state,  is  not  on  or 
near  the  route  covered  by  the  medium  in  coming  here, 
and  it  is  not  on  a  public  road  or  prominent  in  any  way. 
It  is  a  village  club;  all  the  members  know  each  other, 
and  any  stranger  coming  and  making  inquiries  would 
be  suspected  and  discouraged.  I  am  sure  the  medium 
did  not  get  his  information  there. 

Note:  September  25th,  1916. — I  have  now  ob- 
tained copies  of  some  newspaper  issues,  and  append 
cuttings : 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     171 

Bradford   Daily    Telegraph    (Wednesday,    January    14th, 
1914): 

"LITTLE  MICKEY"  DEAD 

King  of  Bradford  Newsboys 


Popular  Figure  Removed 

Michael  Scannon,  better  known  in  the  newsboys*  fraternity 
as  "Little  Mickey,"  the  King  of  the  Bradford  newsboys,  has 
just  died  at  his  home  at  22  Sun  Street. 

"Mickey"  had  for  years  taken  up  his  stand  near  the  Mid- 
land Railway  Station  and  the  Exchange,  and  was  undoubt- 
edly the  best  known  of  all  the  newsboys.  Though  a  cripple 
from  birth,  suffering  from  a  spinal  curvature,  his  genial  dis- 
position won  for  him  a  large  circle  of  friends  amongst  Brad- 
ford business  gentlemen. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  figure  in  the  annual  newsboys' 
trip  to  Cleethorpes,  and  he  was  quite  as  well  known  at  that 
seaside  resort  as  in  his  native  city.  "Mickey"  always  led  the 
procession,  playing  a  small  kettledrum,  and  he  always  enter- 
tained his  comrades  after  dinner  with  songs  and  whistling  se- 
lections. 

The  members  of  the  Bradford  Newsboys'  Trip  Committee 
are  making  arrangements  for  the  funeral,  which  will  prob- 
ably be  the  biggest  any  newsboy  has  yet  received,  for  "Little 
Mickey"  was  the  most  popular  of  all  our  paper  sellers. 


Bradford  Daily  Telegraph  (Wednesday,  January  14th, 
1914): 

Edmondson. — Jan.  12th,  1914,  at  25  Marshfield  Street,  the 
Revd.  George  Edmondson,  aged  76  years.  Funeral  will 
leave  the  house  on  Friday,  the  16th  inst.,  at  1.15,  for 
service  in  Marshfield  Baptist  Chapel.  Interment  at  Bowl- 
ing Cemetery.     Friends  please  accept  this  intimation. 

Bradford  Weekly  Telegraph  (Friday,  January  23rd,  1914)  : 

REV.  G.  EDMONDSON 

The  funeral  took  place  on  Friday,  from  his  residence  at 
Marshfield  Street,  Manchester  Road,  Bradford,  of  the  Rev. 
George  Edmondson,  pastor  of  the  Marshfield  Baptist  Chapel. 


172        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Mr.  Edmondson,  who  was  76  years  of  age,  came  to  Bradford 
from  Horsforth  47  years  ago,  to  take  up  the  pastorate  of 
Ebenezer  Chapel,  a  position  which  he  held  for  very  many 
years.  When  the  Marshfield  Chapel  branched  off  in  1903  he 
became  minister  there,  and  he  filled  the  position  with  much 
acceptance.  Though  never  a  prominent  public  man,  he  had  a 
wide  circle  of  close  personal  friends  by  whom  he  was  most 
highly  esteemed.    .    .    . 


BRADFORD  NEWSBOY'S  FUNERAL 

Once  again  "Little  Mickey"  has  joined  in  the  procession 
of  newsboys  and  shoeblacks — once  again,  but  for  the  last  time, 
alas!  Never  more  when  the  boys  have  their  annual  trip  to 
Cleethorpes  and  go  merrily  marching  along  the  street  will 
"Mickey"  lead  them.  Never  again  when  they  cross  the  Mid- 
land Station  yard  will  the  many  Bradford  business  men  who 
were  his  friends  spare  a  willing  copper  for  the  poor,  brave, 
little  twisted  figure  with  the  wan,  but  smiling  face.  And 
never  more  will  his  pals  in  the  streets  gather  around  him  to 
hear  him  sing  and  whistle,  for  on  Saturday  there  was  no  little 
fellow  to  lead  the  procession,  but  a  poor  little  coffin  was  carried 
high  in  the  midst  of  it. 

After  twenty-two  years  of  pain,  Michael  Scannon,  a  crip- 
ple from  birth,  has  finished  his  fight,  and  with  the  kindly 
thoughts  of  those  who  knew  him  best,  those  who  lived  with 
him,  those  who  tended  him  in  his  sufferings,  and  knew  his 
patient  and  cheerful  spirit,  and  those  who  befriended  him, 
he  has  passed  where  he  will  know  no  more  earthly  pain  or 
trouble. 

"Little  Mickey"  was  the  friend  of  all,  and  on  Saturday 
many  who  had  known  him  gathered  to  bid  the  last  farewell 
as  he  passed  on  his  final  journey.  By  noon  Sun  Street,  North 
Wing,  where  he  lived,  was  filled  with  neighbours  and  friends, 
and  as  the  little  coffin  was  carried  down  the  street  to  the 
hearse  by  some  of  his  comrades,  there  were  many  signs  of 
mourning.  The  procession,  which  was  headed  by  about  forty 
or  fifty  newsboys  and  shoeblacks,  and  joined  by  many  friends, 
passed  along  Captain  Street,  Barkerend  Road,  and  Otley  Road 
to  Undercliffe  Cemetery,  and  all  the  way  there  were  those 
who  knew  him  to  watch  him  go.  At  the  cemetery,  also,  where 
a  service  was  conducted  at  the  graveside  by  Father  O'Shaug- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     173 

nessy,  of  St.  Mary's,  East  Parade,  there  were  many  friends 
gathered.    .    .    . 

The  foregoing  extracts  make  it  clear  that  in  the 
cases  of  the  Rev.  George  Edmondson  and  Mickey  Scan- 
non  the  evidence  for  their  spiritual  agency  is  not 
much  stronger  than  in  the  case  of  S.  C.  Hall,  Miss 
Cobbe,  and  the  S.P.R.  men  named,  for  they  were  well 
known,  and  their  deaths  and  funerals  were  recorded 
rather  fully  in  the  local  newspapers.  If  Mr.  Tyrrell 
happened  to  see  the  Bradford  Weekly  Telegraph  of 
January  23rd,  1914,  we  must  assume  that  any  of  its 
contents  might  remain  in  his  subliminal  memory,  and 
facts  such  as  the  names  of  Mr.  Edmondson  and  Mickey 
Scannon,  with  their  addresses  and  occupations,  may 
be  thus  accounted  for.  Moreover,  in  the  weekly  paper 
just  mentioned,  the  account  of  Mr.  Edmondson's 
funeral  is  immediately  above  that  of  Mickey's,  and  in 
this  latter  there  occurs  the  phrase,  "poor,  brave,  little 
twisted  figure,"  which  seems  suspiciously  like  the  prob- 
able source  of  Billy's  phrase  "poor  twisted  body." 
On  the  other  hand,  Billy  described  Mr.  Edmondson's 
personal  appearance,  and  this  counts  for  evidence  if 
it  is  correct,  for  I  have  found  no  description  of  him 
in  the  newspaper  notices.  I  am  making  further 
inquiries. 

To  guard  against  misapprehension,  I  must  make 
it  clear  that  I  am  not  imputing  conscious  deceit  to 
Mr.  Tyrrell.  I  believe  in  his  absolute  honesty  and 
veracity.  I  have  asked  him  whether  he  knows  the 
names  of  the  Rev.  George  Edmondson,  Mickey  Scan- 
Ion,  or  some  such  name,  and  Alice  Nicholson,  and  he 
replies  that  the  first  two  are  quite  new  to  him,  though 


174        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

he  has  a  dim  recollection  of  having  heard  the  third.  I 
accept  this,  as  regards  his  conscious  recollection;  but 
unfortunately  we  have  to  allow  for  subconscious  mem- 
ories also,  and  it  is  certain  that  we  subconsciously 
know  many  things  which  we  have  "forgotten."  And, 
since  it  seems  that  a  trance-control  cannot  always 
distinguish  between  the  medium's  memory  stores  and 
messages  really  from  "the  other  side,"  we  cannot  safely 
take  as  spirit-evidence  anything  that  the  medium  is  at 
all  likely  to  have  known.  And  though  it  hardly  seems 
likely  that  Mr.  Tyrrell,  living  forty  miles  away  at 
Blackburn,  would  happen  to  see  a  local  paper  of  a 
town  in  which  he  has  no  special  interest,  the  possibility 
is  still  just  sufficient  to  weaken  somewhat  the  spiritistic 
theory  in  the  case  of  the  two  men  in  question. 

October  4th,  1916. — I  wrote  to  Mr.  Tyrrell,  asking 
whether  he  ever  sees  any  Bradford  newspapers,  and 
he  replies  that  he  does  not.  He  thinks  a  local  Black- 
burn library  takes  the  Yorkshire  Post,  but  he  never 
reads  it,  for  he  has  no  particular  interest  in  Yorkshire 
news.  He  further  states  that  he  had  been  in  Bradford 
only  once  before  his  visit  to  me;  on  that  occasion, 
which  was  in  July,  1915,  he  arrived  in  the  town  at 
noon  on  a  Sunday,  spoke  at  a  spiritualist  meeting  in 
the  evening,  caught  an  early  train  home  on  Monday 
morning,  and  saw  no  newspaper  during  the  time  of  his 
short  stay  in  Bradford. 

It  seems,  therefore,  unlikely  that  subliminal  mem- 
ory is  the  correct  explanation  of  the  Edmondson  and 
Mickey  incidents;  particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
no  such  explanation  could  account  for  the  appearance 
of  James  Brearley  and  my  father.  Perhaps  Mr.  Ed- 
mondson and  Mickey  made  friends  with  each  other 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     175 

because  they  went  over  almost  at  the  same  time.  It 
does  not  seem  an  unreasonable  supposition.  But  read- 
ers will  form  their  own  judgment  from  the  facts,  which 
I  have  given  as  fully  as  possible. 

Note:  October  4th,  1916. — To-day  I  learn  that 
(Mrs.)  Alice  Nicholson  lived  at  12  Rothesay  Terrace, 
Bradford;  evidently  the  control  made  a  small  mistake 
in  getting  it  "Rothery  Terrace."  In  The  Two  Worlds 
for  September  15th,  1916 — four  days  after  my  sitting 
— there  appeared  the  following  notice : 

In  Memoriam 

Nicholson. — In  loving  remembrance  of  a  dear  wife  and 
mother,  Alice  Nicholson,  12  Rothesay  Terrace,  Bradford, 
who  passed  on  September  18th,  1913. — Albert  Nichol- 
son AND  Family. 

No  doubt  her  death  was  notified  in  the  same  paper, 
which  Mr.  Tyrrell  sees  regularly;  and,  though  he  re- 
members hardly  anything  about  Mrs.  Nicholson,  a 
subliminal  memory  explanation  is  not  impossible.  But 
I  think  it  fair  to  add  that  subliminal  memory  theories 
have  been  greatly  overworked,  and  that  the  spiritistic 
view  is  at  least  as  likely,  particularly  when  supported 
by  incidents  such  as  those  about  my  father  and  James 
Brearley,  which  cannot  be  reasonably  explained  by 
subliminal  memory.  Moreover,  I  have  ascertained 
to-day  that  the  description  of  the  personal  appearance 
of  both  Mr.  Edmondson  and  Mrs.  Nicholson  is  abso- 
lutely exact;  and  this  seems  to  require  an  explanation 
beyond  the  newspaper  notices. 

Note:  October  10th,  1916. — I  now  find  that  the 
photograph  of  the  two  old  men  was  reproduced  in  the 
Bradford  Daily  Telegraph  of  January    10th,    1914, 


176        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

with  a  paragraph — on  another  page — in  which  Brear- 
ley's  strong  voice  is  mentioned,  and  eccentricity  hinted 
at.  His  address  is  given  also.  Consequently,  consid- 
ered strictly,  the  evidentiality  of  the  Brearley  incident 
disappears.  Lapsed  memory  will  account  for  it,  as 
well  as  for  the  Mr.  Edmondson  and  Mickey  incidents ; 
that  is,  if  we  assume  that  Tyrrell  had  at  some  time 
seen  these  various  newspaper  accounts.  There  remains 
the  description  of  Mr.  Edmondson,  and  my  father's 
name  and  age ;  and  if  these  were  from  the  other  side  so 
may  the  others  be.  Suspense  of  judgment  seems  the 
correct  attitude. 

Note:  October  20th,  1916. — ^James  Brearley's  club 
crony  died  this  morning.  This  perhaps  lends  a  little 
weight  to  the  spiritistic  interpretation  of  the  incident. 
Brearley  may  have  been  waiting  about  for  his  friend, 
and  may  have  really  been  present  at  my  sitting.  The 
case,  on  this  view,  is  a  parallel  of  the  Leather — Dray- 
ton, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walkley,  and  Charlton — ^Charlton 
meeting  cases  already  described. 

December  1  ith,  1916. — I  have  lately  got  into  touch 
with  an  able  and  experienced  investigator.  Dr.  F.  H. 
Wood,  of  Blackburn,  who  has  had  many  sittings  with 
Mr.  Tyrrell,  and  is  therefore  more  competent  to  esti- 
mate his  powers  than  I  am.  Dr.  Wood  is  quite  sure 
that  "Billy"  does  not  use  the  medium's  memory-stores, 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously;  and  that  the  in- 
formation said  to  come  from  spirits  does  really  come 
from  the  other  side.  He  kindly  allows  m.e  to  quote  the 
following  piece  of  evidence  from  one  of  his  own  sit- 
tings. I  have  disguised  the  names,  lest  the  child's 
mother  should  be  caused  pain. 

"On  May  13th,  1915,  Mr.  Tyrrell  described  to  us 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     177 

the  spirit  form  of  a  lady  who  brought  with  her  a  little 
boy,  aged  five.  Her  name  was  not  given,  but  the 
boy  was  said  to  be  'the  child  of  .  .  / — here  the  clair- 
voyant listened,  and  said,  It  sounds  like  Samuel 
Browning,  but  I'm  not  quite  sure.  At  any  rate,  he  is 
a  policeman,  and  he  lives  at  No.  6,  Henry  Street, 
Ley  ton  [a  small  town  a  hundred  miles  away].  The 
mother  of  the  child  is  grieving  sadly.  He  died  of 
pneumonia.  Will  someone  tell  her  that  he  is  not 
"dead"  at  all,  in  the  sense  she  thinks  he  is*?  He  is 
here^  and  we  are  looking  after  him.  She  mustn't  grieve 
so  much.' 

"On  July  19th,  1916,  I  visited  Ley  ton,  and  found 
that  there  was  a  Henry  Street.  I  went  to  No.  6,  but 
no  one  was  at  home.  I  tried  next  door,  and  the  neigh- 
bour gave  me  the  following  information.  The  people 
at  No.  6  are  named  Brownlow.  The  father  is  a  con- 
stable. His  name  is  Stanley.  (The  medium  seems 
to  have  misheard  Samuel  Browning  for  Stanley  Brown- 
low,  but  he  got  the  address  correctly.)  I  asked  for 
information  about  the  mother.  'She  has  gone  away,' 
the  neighbour  said;  'health  completely  broken  down 
since  her  little  boy  died,  six  months  ago,  of  pneumonia. 
He  was  only  five.'  She  went  on  to  say,  quite  spon- 
taneously and  without  any  suggestion  from  me:  T 
have  often  been  to  the  cemetery  with  Mrs.  Brownlow, 
and  it  was  pitiful  to  see  the  way  she  cried  and  fretted 
over  the  little  grave.  He  was  her  only  boy.'  The 
rest  of  the  story  as  to  how  I  tried  to  bring  comfort 
to  the  poor  mother's  heart  need  not  be  told  here,  but 
it  may  be  pointed  out,  on  the  evidential  side,  that  none 
of  the  sitters  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  Brownlow 
family,  and  that  to  the  best  of  my  belief  the  medium 


178        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

shared  their  ignorance  and  had  never  been  in  that 
town.    I  am  quite  sure  about  this  last  point. 

"The  question  arises:  'Why  did  the  message  come 
through  to  me?'  I  think  there  is  a  sort  of  link.  It 
happens  that  my  boyhood  was  spent  at  Leyton,  though 
I  have  no  reason  to  think  the  medium  knew  that.  No 
one  belonging  to  my  family  has  lived  there  since  1904. 
Two  of  my  brothers  are  buried  in  the  same  cemetery 
as  the  child.  It  seems  as  if  perhaps  one  of  my  loved 
ones,  witnessing  the  mother's  grief  at  an  adjoining 
grave,  interested  himself  with  the  object  of  obtaining 
some  consolation  for  her. — F.  H.  Wood  (Mus. 
Doc.)." 

This  seems  to  me  a  good  case,  and  Dr.  Wood  has 
kindly  allowed  me  to  see  records  of  others  almost 
equally  striking.  I  have  also  heard  details  recently 
of  other  successfully-evidential  incidents  through 
Tyrrell's  mediumship,  and  on  the  whole  I  am  now 
disposed  to  put  a  spiritistic  interpretation  on  the  re- 
sults of  my  own  sitting  with  him.  If  he  ever  reads 
this,  I  hope  he  will  not  feel  it  to  be  a  lukewarm  judg- 
ment. I  merely  follow  the  facts,  and  must  not  go 
farther  than  the  facts  point.  If  I  had  been  able  to 
have  further  sittings,  I  quite  believe  I  should  have 
obtained  further  facts  which  would  have  convinced 
me  of  spirit-origin.  One  sitting  is  not  enough  to  base 
anything  on  very  definitely.  My  conviction  of  other- 
side  agency  in  Wilkinson's  case  is  complete.  I  have 
no  doubt  about  it  whatever.  But  it  has  grown  gradu- 
ally, and  is  the  result  of  many  carefully  recorded  and 
studied  sittings  extending  over  a  period  of  years. 
From  all  I  can  hear,  Tyrrell's  mediumship  is  of  the 
same  order,  and  I  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able — 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     179 

mainly  through  distance — to  obtain  further  evidence 
through  him. 

SITTING  12 

Friday^  September  llnd^  1916.    Present^  J,  A.  H.  and 
medium  (Mr.  A,  Wilkinson). 

The  medium  arrived  at  2.25  p.m.,  and  we  talked 
about  his  recent  tours  in  Durham  and  elsewhere  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Then  a  few  minutes* 
silence,  and  clairvoyance  began. 

A.  W. :  There  is  some  youngish  man  about.  He 
would  be  about  thirty-one  or  thirty-two.  He  builds 
up  in  the  corner  there.  Long  face,  pale.  Biggish  nose. 
It's  a  peculiar  thing,  one  side  of  his  clothes  seems  light, 
the  other  dark.  It  is  the  light  from  the  window,  I 
suppose.  Lister  is  the  name  I  get.  That  might  be  a 
surname.  Lister  Holden  or  Holden  Lister.  These 
two  names  go  together.  Thirty-one  or  thirty-two  when 
he  passed  away.  Been  gone  some  years ;  all  about  his 
head  looks  quite  subtle,  because  he  has  been  away 
some  time. 

J.  A.  H. :    Quite  right,  that. 

A.  W. :  You  see,  it's  two  surnames,  and  I  can't 
tell  which  comes  first.  There  is  a  very  old  woman 
with  this  man;  very  old,  quite  feeble.  Not  been  long 
gone ;  clothes  quite  dense,  fabric  very  real.  She  jStands 
up  as  if  he  were  supporting  her.  There's  something 
over  her  head,  a  cap.  Quite  venerable;  eighty-five  or 
eighty-six.  Something  to  do  with  this  man.  Name 
Amelia.  She  was  very  old.  She  has  a  fancy  apron 
on  over  her  dress — a  lace  apron.     Rather  particular 


i8o        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

in  her  dress.      [Takes  pencil  and  paper  and  writes 
"Lister  Holden"  and  "Amelia."] 

[Amelia  Holden,  who  died  in  1910  at  something 
well  over  eighty  and  who  appeared  for  the  first 
time  at  my  last  sitting  with  Wilkinson   (August 
2nd,   1916,  p.  144),  was  wife  of  a  cousin  of  my 
maternal  grandfather.    Lister  Holden,  here  named 
for  the  first  time,  was  her  son,  who  died,  as  I  after- 
wards found,  in   1889,  aged  thirty -one.     I  know 
nothing  of  his  appearance,  but  I  learn  that  a  long 
face  and  big  nose  were  characteristic  of  his  father, 
who  died  in  1888,  so  perhaps  the  son  had  them 
also.     The  cap  and  apron  are  correct  for  Mrs. 
Holden.    She  dressed  well.] 
Have  you  known  somebody,  a  farmer,  named  Lee? 
There  are  always  farmers  come  here;  I  feel  as  if  I 
were  about  cattle  and  hay.     I  get  the  name  of  Lee 
distinctly.     Not  a  very  old  man;  older  than  you,  but 
not  very  old.     I  am  sure  he  has  been  about  a  farm. 

That  young  man  and  that  old  woman  must  be  re- 
lated to  each  other.  They  belong  to  each  other.  Re- 
lated. 

[Yes,  mother  and  son  (Holdens),  as  explained. 
My  father  had  an  uncle  named  Lee  who  appeared 
at  my  last  sitting  with  Wilkinson,  August  2nd, 
1916,  p.  143.] 
There  is  a  man  here,  tall,  no  hair  about  his  mouth, 
biggish  face,  elderly,  sixty  or  sixty-one  or  a  bit  more. 
Name,  Jonas  Hey.    A  long  time  passed  away ;  twenty 
years  or  more — more  than  that.    Did  you  know  him? 
[Writes  "Jonas  Hey."] 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

[Not  sure  that  I  did.     A  Jonas  Hey  certainly 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     181 

lived  in  Thornton,  dying  perhaps  twenty  years 
ago,  but  I  do  not  remember  his  appearance.  My 
father  knew  him. 

Later:     Have  found  someone  who  knew  him. 

Description  is  fairly  accurate,  but  my  informant 

thinks  J.  H.  did  not  shave  any  part  of  his  face.] 

I  am  taken  to  a  farm  again.    A  lot  of  people  called 

Hey  come  to  you. 

[Mother's  maiden  name.  But  I  think  Jonas 
Hey  was  no  relation;  certainly  not  a  near  one.] 
This  man  might  be  confused  with  another.  [This 
turned  out  correct:  evidently  those  on  the  other  side 
saw  I  was  going  wrong.  The  J.  H.  intended  was  a 
relative  of  mine  w^hom  I  never  knew.]  He  has  been 
deceased  many  years;  you  would  only  be  very  young 
when  he  died.  Do  you  know  somebody  called 
Whetley? 

J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  think  so. 

A.  W. :  Have  you  known  somebody  called  Lee 
Whetley? 

J.  A.  H. :  I  know  who  that  is. 
A.  W. :  There  might  be  two  persons,  one  Lee  and 
one  Whetley,  connected  with  a  farm.  I  should  think 
that  man  Lee  died  rather  suddenly.  I  can't  get  away 
from  somebody  living — somebody  living  that  he  has 
known.  He  probably  left  a  wife  alive.  There  is  some 
attraction  about  a  farm. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  should  like  to  know  what  he  wants. 
He  came  last  time,  and  may  be  trying  to  complete 
some  information. 

A.  W. :    I  didn't  think  he  had  been  before. 

[It  was  my  mistake.     I  was  thinking  of  old 
Thomas  Lee,  who  did  come  at  the  August  2nd 


i82        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

sitting.     But  obviously  the  man  Wilkinson  was 
talking  about  was  Whetley  Lee,  Thomas's  son,  who 
had  not  been  mentioned  before.     He  (Whetley) 
lived  at  a  farm  a  mile  and  a  half  from  here — a 
very   lonely   and   out-of-the-waj  place,   far  from 
main  roads,  and  very  unlikely  to  have  even  been 
seen  by  Wilkinson,  who  lives  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion.    Whetley  died  rather  suddenly  about  four 
years  ago,  leaving  a  wife.     I  think  she  is  still  at 
the  farm,  but  am  not  sure.    It  is  a  long  way  from 
the   farm   where  her  father-in-law   lived,   in  the 
next  valley.] 
There's  a  lot  of  people  here  to-day.    A  young  man 
between  thirty  and  forty,  dressed  up  in  style  like  a 
parson.     Black  clothes.     Can't  see  his  face,  but  am 
impressed  with  his  clothes;  black.     Somebody  who 
hasn't  been  here  before.    Cockin  is  the  name. 
J.  A.  H. :    Right. 

A.  W. :  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  was  in  an  at- 
mosphere where  parsons  were. 

J.  A.  H. :    I  wonder  what  his  first  name  was. 
A.  W. :     There's  a  very  old  man  with  him  now, 
white  hair,  over  eighty,  stoops,  was  tall  and  well-made. 
His  name  is  Joseph.     He  is  Joseph  Cockin,  and  the 
young  man  is  with  him. 

[Medium  takes  pencil  and  paper,   and  writes 
"Joseph  Cockin."] 
J.  A.  H. :    Quite  right. 

A.  W. :  The  younger  has  been  gone  longest ;  he  is 
more  subtle.  The  old  man  would  be  eighty — quite. 
He  has  not  been  a  parson,  I  think,  but  the  young 
man  had  something  to  do  with  them.  Funny  name — 
Joseph  Cockin!     The  young  man's  name  must  have 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     183 

been  Cockin,  but  I  don't  get  any  other  name.     He 
has  been  longer  away. 

It's  a  wonder  to  me  that  you  don't  see  or  feel  these 
people. 

[Rev.  Joseph  Cockin  was  minister  at  a  Con- 
gregational Church  in  Thornton  for  a  few  years. 
He  either  left  or  died  about  1886.  I  have  had  no 
knowledge  of  any  of  the  family  for  a  long  time. 
I  should  think  it  pretty  certain  that  Wilkinson  had 
never  heard  the  name  before.  Certainly  I  had 
never  mentioned  these  people  to  him;  they  are 
very  rarely  in  my  mind.  My  grandfather  and 
grandmother  went  to  "old  Cockin's"  church  (he 
would  die  at  about  eighty),  but  we  did  not,  and 
I  do  not  remember  him.  I  do  not  know  who  the 
young  Cockin  can  be.  It  is  curious  that  Wilkinson 
thought  that  Joseph  was  not  a  minister,  although 
he  brought  that  sort  of  atmosphere.] 
A.  W. :  Wasn't  it  a  parson  or  a  schoolmaster  who 
came  before"?  [Evidently  referring  to  Mr.  Waldron, 
sitting  of  August  2nd,  p.  146.] 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes.    I  wish  he  would  come  again. 
A.  W. :    He  doesn't  seem  to  be  about  to-day. 
That  old  man  looked  as  real  as  life.    You  are  sure 
you  don't  feel  any  worse  after  I  have  been? 
J.  A.  H. :    Quite  sure. 

A.  W. :  Those  are  very  curious  names,  Whetley  Lee 
and  Joseph  Cockin.  I  think  this  old  gentleman  was 
rather  religious;  rather  pious,  in  his  way;  would  be 
about  chapel  life. 

J.  A.  H. :    He  was  a  minister. 

A.  W. :    Was  he?    Did  you  know  him? 


i84        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

J.  A.  H. :  I  knew  of  him.  He  was  rather  before  my 
time.    My  grandfather  knew  him  very  well. 

A.  W. :  You  have  never  had  any  communication 
from  the  lady  of  the  glove'? 

J.  A.  H. :  No,  except  what  you  got.  Would  you 
like  to  try  now? 

A.W.:    Yes. 

[Gave  him  a  glove  of  hers,  which  he  handled 
without  result  for  several  minutes  and  then  put 
down.] 

I  think  it  is  best,  after  all,  to  wait  for  spontaneous 
things. 

That  old  man — had  he  some  local  connexion? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  he  was  a  minister  in  Thornton. 

A.  W. :  The  young  man  should  have  had  a  name, 
too. 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  I  wonder  what  it  was. 

A.  W.  (after  pause)  :  There's  some  old  lady  again, 
another  old  lady.  I  have  seen  her  here  before.  Eighty 
or  so.  Seems  as  if  she  moves  about  the  house.  I  have 
seen  these  forms  mainly  in  that  corner,  but  she  seems 
to  be  walking  round.  Name,  Mary.  Makes  me  feel 
as  if  she  had  some  hold  on  you,  some  relationship  to 
you.  She  would  be  eighty-one  or  eighty-two.  Been 
an  active  woman  all  her  life.  Can  you  make  out  who 
it  is? 

J.  A.  H. :  Yes ;  my  grandmother,  no  doubt.  I  wish 
she  could  send  a  message. 

A.  W.:    Had  she  a  very  big  family? 

J.  A.  H. :    No.  Five  children,  I  think. 

[Rather  curiously,  he  credited  this  grandmother 
with  a  large  family  before.  ] 

A.  W. :    I  don't  think  I  can  get  any  more. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     185 

After  a  little  general  talk,  not  about  the  sitting 
or  my  deceased  friends  or  relatives,  the  medium  left 
to  catch  the  3.48  train. 

[January  23rd,  1917. — I  learn  to-day  that  old 
Mr.  Cockin  had  a  son  Joseph,  a  very  promising 
young  man  who  went  to  Africa  as  a  missionary 
and  died  there — before  his  father's  death — aged 
between  thirty  and  forty.] 


TABLE    OF    SITTINGS,    WITH    PRINCIPAL 
NAMES   AND    INCIDENTS 

July  21st,  1914.  Sarah,  Jonas,  Dunlop,  Armitage, 
Leather. 

December  14th,  1914.  Helen  and  Benjamin  Torring- 
ton,  Mary  (grandmother),  Walker,  James 
Bannister,  (Edmund)  Driver,  Ishmael,  Purcell 
(Timothy?). 

January  15th,  1915.  Trevor,  King,  Elias  Sidney, 
Moses  Young,  Mary  Bannister,  Jowett,  Han- 
son (woman  connected  with  a  school),  Mary 
(mother),  woman  with  limp.  Leather,  Purcell 
(girl  with  music,  unrecognised),  man  with  long 
pinafore  on,  forty  or  forty-two,  died  suddenly, 
Jonathan  Ainsworth,  John  Hey,  Yewton 
(farm). 

November  19th,  1915  (per  Mr.  Frank  Knight).  Ish- 
mael Hey,  Sarah,  Helen  Torrington  and  a  man 
(her  husband),  father  described. 

January  19th,  1916.  John  (grandfather  Hey),  Jonas, 
Lewis,  Percy  Tranter,  Drayton,  Henry  and 
Robert,  Whitley. 


i86        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

February  17th,  1916.    Prediction  of  a  good-bye,  Mary 

(mother),    unrecognised   young  man   H , 

Driver,  later  Edmund,  Mr.  Walkley  described, 
imminent  funeral  of  old  lady  (Mrs.  Walkley), 
young  man's  mother  (unrecognised),  descrip- 
tion of  father  pulling  cloth  over,  and  of  grand- 
father (Hey),  James  Bannister,  Charlton. 

April  12th,  1916.  Grandmother  Hey  described,  Jonas, 
Jowett,  Verity  and  Betty  Tranter,  tall,  lame 
woman,  Burroughs,  Burns,  Helen  Torrington. 

April  19th,  1916.  Description  of  church,  vicar,  house 
(Mrs.  Napier's),  Hanson,  Joseph,  Yewton 
(farm),  John  Henry  Hanson,  Armitage,  Leth- 
bridge,  Jim  Hey,  William  Bannister,  Ishmael, 
Mary  (grandmother  Hey),  prediction  of  Lon- 
don letter  and  would-be  borrower,  Elizabeth, 
Levensley. 

June  5th,  1916.  Mrs.  Ingham,  Mrs.  Walkley,  James 
Hill,  young  man  who  died  in  tragic  manner, 
Sarah  Hey,  Mary,  prediction  about  3,  some 
unrecognised  event  of  May  7th  or  17th,  1861, 
Jabez  Purcell,  Lewis. 

August  2nd,  1916.  Thomas  and  Betty  (Lee),  John 
and  Amelia  (Holden),  some  Clapton  or  Clap- 
ham,  Thomas  Waldron,  Pudsey  connected  with 
Mr.  Lund,  young  man  who  died  suddenly, 
mentally  ill,  Pudsey  man  named  Joseph, 
Leather,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Leather),  Mary  (my 
mother)  and  her  father. 

September  nth,  1916.  (Medium,  T.  Tyrrell.) 
James  Brearley,  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson,  Henry 
Sidgwick,     Gurney,     Samuel     Carter     Hall, 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     187 

Frances  Power  Cobbe,  Alice  Nicholson,  Rev. 
George  Edmondson,  Mickey  Scanlon  (Mickey 
Scannon). 

By  letter,  Bannister  and  Mary  Hill. 
September  22nd,    1916.      (A.  W.)     Lister  Hoi  den, 
Amelia,    Whetley    Lee,    Jonas    Hey,    Joseph 
Cockin  and  young  Cockin,  Grandmother  Hey 
described,  "Mary.'' 

A  Crucial  Test 

It  may  be  that  the  critical  reader,  inevitably  less 
fully  acquainted  with  all  the  data  than  I  am,  will 
still  feel  a  haunting  suspicion  that,  somehow  or  other, 
Wilkinson's  normal  knowledge  may  account  for  more 
than  I  think,  and  may  cover  at  least  the  cases  where 
my  own  deceased  relatives  and  friends  are  concerned. 
I  am  quite  sure  that  it  does  not,  but  I  recognise  that 
a  few  instances  of  proof  approaching  the  crucial  are 
desirable.  I  therefore  emphasise  the  quoted  facts 
about  Elias  Sidney,  who  was  unknown  to  me  (pages 
28-31,  35,  36,  80-84,  87-90),  about  Mr.  King,  whose 
appearance  seemed  due  to  the  call  of  an  unexpected 
visitor  who  was  unknown  to  the  medium  (pp.  79,  80), 
and,  above  all,  about  such  cases  as  those  in  which 
spirits  connected  with  some  recent  visitor  of  mine  are 
described  and  named.  Of  this  last  class  the  case  of 
Mrs.  Torrington  (pp.  74-76,  92,  115)  is  good,  but  the 
hardened  sceptic  will  explain  it  by  telepathy  from  me. 
I  tlierefore  give,  below,  a  recent  case  of  this  kind  in 
which  the  theory  of  telepathy  from  the  sitter  is  ex- 
cluded. 


i88        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

In  a  sitting  on  November  9th,  1916,  there  occurred 
the  following: — 

A.  W. :  Did  you  know  somebody  called  Ruth  Rob- 
ertshaw?     R-U-T-H. 

J.  A.  H. :  I  don't  remember  anybody  at  the  moment. 

A.  W. :  About  sixty-three  or  sixty- four.  She  has 
known  somebody  who  has  been  here.  "Ruth  Robert- 
shaw"  is  not  a  common  combination.  I  saw  her  per- 
fectly. A  crescent-shaped  light  was  over  her  head, 
and  her  face  was  illumined.  She  would  be  inclined  to 
be  rather  pious  in  her  way. 

[Quite  meaningless  to  me.    Never  heard  of  any 
Ruth  Robertshaw.] 

This  woman  Ruth  is  no  relation  to  you,  I  think.  .  .  . 
There  was  a  gentleman  belonging  to  her,  called  Jacob. 
I  think  he  would  be  her  husband.  Whoever  he  was, 
he  was  older  than  her.  He  would  be  seventy- three. 
She  would  be  about  ten  years  younger;  it  may  be  in 
the  time  between  them  passing  away — I'm  not  sure. 
I  don't  see  him;  I  only  hear  it. 

All  this  conveyed  nothing  to  me.  But  previous 
experience  warned  me  not  to  dismiss  it  hastily,  and 
it  occurred  to  me  to  write  to  the  last  visitor  I  had 
had,  three  days  before,  in  case  the  two  people  belonged 
to  her;  though  I  thought  it  unlikely,  because  she  is  a 
Miss  North,  and  I  knew  of  no  Robertshaws  among  her 
relatives  or  friends.  She  lives  at  a  distance  of  some 
miles,  not  in  Wilkinson's  direction;  and  she  has  never 
met  him,  I  have  never  mentioned  her  to  him,  she  is 
not  a  spiritualist  or  psychical  researcher,  and  I  am 
confident  that  he  does  not  know  of  her  existence.  She 
calls  only  rarely — perhaps  three  times  in  the  last  year. 
Her  reply  was: 

/ 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     189 

You  make  me  feel  creepy.  Ruth  Robertshaw  was  my 
father's  cousin — one  of  the  sweetest  women  that  ever  lived. 
She  was  a  beautiful  old  lady  when  I  knew  her,  and  good. 
Jacob  was  her  husband.  The  ages  given  are  just  about 
right.    .    .    • 

I  have  since  found  the  exact  dates.  Ruth  died  in 
1888,  aged  sixty- three;  Jacob  died  in  1900,  aged  sev- 
enty-three. 

The  medium  also  made  correct  statements  of  the 
nature  of  messages  from  these  two  people,  concerning 
a  family  related  to  them  but  unknown  to  me,  a  member 
of  which  was  said  to  be  ill.    All  turned  out  correct. 

I  regard  this  as  approaching  "crucial"  proof  of 
supernormality,  even  for  the  outsider,  if  my  state- 
ments are  believed.  To  me  it  is  conclusive  of  some- 
thing beyond  either  normal  knowledge  on  the  medium's 
part  or  telepathy  from  me;  and  indeed,  I  can  find  no 
satisfactory  explanation  except  the  spiritistic  one. 
Apparently  those  on  the  other  side  are  aware  of  the 
movements  of  those  in  whom  they  are  still  interested 
down  here,  and  are  in  some  sense  "with"  them,  even 
to  the  extent  of  being  perceivable  by  a  sensitive  through 
an  after-influence  left  some  days  before. 

If  it  is  urged  that  the  influence  does  not  bring  spirits 
but  only  establishes  a  rapport  by  which  Wilkinson  was 
able  to  read  the  mind  of  the  distant  and  unknown  Miss 
North,  I  say  that  only  a  credulous  and  superstitious 
person  can  accept  such  a  hypothesis;  for  there  is  little 
or  no  evidence  for  a  hypothetical  mind-reading  of  that 
kind. 


190        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

SITTING  13 

Hitherto,  except  for  one  sitting  with  Tyrrell,  I  have 
kept  to  one  series  of  sittings  with  the  medium  A. 
Wilkinson.  By  way  of  change,  and  as  illustration  of 
a  different  type  of  mediumship,  I  will  now  quote  the 
reports  of  two  sittings  with  the  well-known  London 
medium,  Mr.  A.  Vout  Peters.  They  are  not  eviden- 
tially very  strong,  but  there  are  good  points  here  and 
there. 

March  2nd,  1916. 

Present,  J.  A,  H.,  M.  H,  {sister),  and  medium  {Mr. 
A,  V.  Peters). 

Peters  came  in  from  another  room,  where  he  had 
been  resting,  at  2.45  p.m.,  as  arranged.  No  prelimi- 
nary talk. 

P.:  Have  you  got  anything  for  me  to  psychome- 
trize*? 

[J.  A.  H.  handed  him  a  silver  box  which  had 
belonged  to  Mrs.  Napier  and,  some  years  earlier, 
to  her  husband.  ] 
Two  people  have  had  this  before  you;  two  different 
influences. 

[Correct.] 
A  man,  fairly  tall,  broad  shoulders,  broad  forehead, 
hair  gone  white.  Had  a  fairly  good  position;  clever, 
quick.  Full  of  human  sympathy.  Deep  insight  into 
human  nature.  A  restless  feeling,  full  of  energy, 
wanting  to  come  in  touch  with  people.  Tremendous 
tiredness  before  passing  away.  Position  of  trust  and 
honour.    The  person  who  had  the  box  before  you  did 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     191 

not  handle  it  much.     Had  it  put  away;  hidden,  a 
long  time. 

[Fair  description.    Mr.  N.  was  a  country  gentle- 
K      man   of   independent   means:    estates    in   several 
counties.] 

A  lady  comes.  Woman  of  seventy  or  seventy-five. 
Rather  round-faced,  light  eyes,  hair  gone  very  grey. 
Face  rather  thin,  little  wrinkled,  longish  hands.  As 
she  comes  she  brings  a  sense  of  force.  Suddenly  got 
old  before  she  passed  over.    Feeling  of  rest. 

[Unrecognised.    Mr.  N.'s  relatives  unknown  to 
me.] 

Now  I  am  switched  off  to  the  man  I  first  described. 
Got  tired  of  everything,  but  did  not  show  it.  Some- 
body he  loved  had  passed  away  before  him.  The  lady 
comes  in  incidentally. 

J.  A.  H. :  It  is  the  lady  we  want  to  hear  from. 
(Meaning  Mrs.  N.) 

P. :  Another  man :  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  you 
did  not  know  him.  Tall,  fair,  light  eyes.  Been  passed 
over  some  time. 

Is  that  old  lady  your  mother? 

J.  A.  H. :    I  think  not. 

P. :  I  want  to  sit  up  straight.  Man,  tall,  longish 
face,  broad  forehead,  hair  thin,  eyes  very  blue.  I  am 
taken  back  some  number  of  years — perhaps  twenty  or 
thirty.  Clever.  Not  very  happy  before  he  died.  Anx- 
iety round  about  him.  Whatever  the  cause  of  his 
death,  he  did  not  want  to  die.  He  comes  as  a  side 
issue.    He  is  sympathetic  to  you. 

M.  H. :    Is  he  connected  with  the  box? 

J.  A.  H. :     You  had  better  put  it  down ;  there  are 


192        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

many  people  connected  with  it  whom  we  don't  know 
much  about. 

[And  in  quarters  where  we  could  not  ask.] 

(P.  puts  box  down  and  takes  J.  A.  H.'s  left  hand, 
dropping  it  after  a  few  sentences.) 

You  absorb  magnetism  immensely.  Quick,  active 
mentally,  mind  quickened  by  not  being  able  to  make 
physical  exertion.  Tremendous  will-power:  makes 
weak  body  do  the  mind's  bidding.  Dominating  the 
body,  this  will-power  would  have  even  overcome  the 
physical  trouble,  if  it  had  been  possible  at  all.  You 
live  in  the  world  of  ideas.  The  difficulty  is  to  bridge 
over  the  two  aspects  of  life.  Your  brain  being  accus- 
tomed to  work  on  scientific  bases,  it  is  difficult  to  realise 
the  purely  psychic  side  of  ['?  your]  nature.  Your 
mind  is  trained  in  a  strong  given  direction,  and  the 
weak  point  is  that  the  spirit  cannot  express  itself  as  it 
would.  There  are  both  advantages  and  disadvantages 
in  such  a  training.  But  we  are  more  than  mere  brain. 
You  have  a  creative  mind — want  to  create  things. 
Illness  having  shattered  your  early  ambitions,  you 
thought  more  into  the  world  of  ideas ;  getting  in  touch 
with  spiritualism,  which  at  first  you  did  not  feel  drawn 
to,  you  saw  the  importance  of  life  after  death,  and  the 
necessity  of  bringing  it  to  the  front  and  spreading  the 
knowledge.  You  are  able  to  influence  hundreds  of 
people  in  different  countries.  Your  interests  go  out  to 
hundreds. 

Your  work  is  not  yet  done.  There  is  greater  work 
for  you  to  do  in  the  future  than  you  have  any  idea  of. 

How  old  are  you — forty^three? 

J.A.  H.:    Yes. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     193 

[Not  evidential.  He  happened  to  have  been 
told  my  age.] 

P.:  After  you  are  forty-five  you  are  going  to  get 
better.  A  curious  thing  will  be  that  when  the  better- 
ment takes  place  you  will  have  a  feeling  of  restlessness 
and  distress  in  the  lumbar  regions.  You  have  no 
trouble  there  ^ 

J.  A.  H. :    No. 

P. :    What  it  means  I  can't  tell. 

Your  colour  is  blue.  This  is  a  recent  development 
with  me,  seeing  colours.  There  is  blue  around  you — 
pale  blue.  What  it  means  I  can't  tell.  Very  intense, 
tremendous  vibration  and  force.  Tremendous  mental 
impetus.  Much  patience.  Your  interests  go  out  to 
hundreds  of  people. 

Spirit  people  are  now  building  up. 

Lady  here,  fairly  tall,  longish  face,  hair  grey,  nose 
not  large,  lips  full,  hands  long.  Something  on  her 
head.  Tremendous  interest  in  life.  She  has  a  bright 
manner — has,  not  had, — good  housewife,  very  affec- 
tionate and  loving.  Shrewd  and  quick  in  her  judg- 
ments, tremendous  memory  for  the  past.  Very  upright 
in  carriage ;  certain  amount  of  pride — not  pride  of  race, 
but  proper  pride.  A  pretty  woman  when  young. 
Comes  very  close  to  you.  Ripe  old  age  when  she 
passed  over.  Been  ailing  a  little,  but  not  very  ill ;  no 
great  pain. 

[Fairly  good  for  my  maternal  grandmother, 
except  that  I  should  not  have  called  her  markedly 
affectionate.     She  died  aged  eighty-one,  in  1890.] 

There  is  a  man  who  passed  away,  fairly  tall,  broad 
forehead,  hair  grey,  about  seventy.  Eyebrows  clearly 
marked,  nose  fairly  long  and  rather  broad,  lips  full, 


194        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

strong  jaw,  broad  and  thick  set  when  younger,  got 
thinner  before  passing  away.  Feeble  of  speech,  some- 
thing wrong  with  breathing  apparatus.  He  is  intensely 
interested  to  get  back;  he  has  not  even  given  you 
proper  evidence  of  his  survival,  seems  anxious  to  tell 
you  *'I  am  alive,  I  am  alive  I"  Had  worked  tremen- 
dously hard  when  young.  Strong  sense  of  humour. 
Able  and  ambitious  for  himself  and  for  others.  Is  it 
your  father^ 
J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

[My  father  died  in    1898,   aged  sixty-six,   of 
heart    disease,    which    caused    painfully    difficult 
breathing  and  sometimes  inability  to  speak.     He 
had  an  exceptionally  broad  forehead,  very  bushy 
eyebrows,  was  stout  in  middle  life,  and  indeed  the 
whole  description  is  accurate  except  that  his  hair 
was  not  very  grey — though  it  was  going  grey  par- 
ticularly at  the  front — and  that  I  should  not  have 
called  him  ambitious  for  himself.    But  he  was  for 
his  children,  in  whose  welfare  and  success  he  was 
keenly  interested.] 
You  are  always  able  to  make  friends  with  men. 
I  see  a  man  whom  you  knew  when  you  were  about 
thirty-eight.     Fairly  tall,  roundish  face,  broad  fore- 
head, hair  dark.     A  little  younger  than  you.     Full 
light  moustache.    Comes  very  close  to  you.    Quiet  and 
undemonstrative  in  manner.    Not  in  this  house — away 
from  here.     You  got  on  well  together.     The  interest 
was  kept  up  afterwards  by  correspondence,  though  not 
very  much.     The  interest  slackened,  and  he  passed 
out  of  your  life,  except  as  a  memory.    You  have  had 
to  let  many  things  slip.    Now  he  is  dead,  and  he  comes 
to  you.    Feeling  of  restfulness.    Perhaps  you  met  him 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     195 

at  a  seaside  place,  had  a  happy  time  together.  Quiet 
and  restful.    Tremendous  sense  of  humour. 

[Unrecognised,  but  may  have  some  truth  in  it. 
I  have  made  friends  a  few  times  in  the  way  in- 
dicated, but  cannot  remember  anybody  whom  the 
description  would  fit.] 

(P.  began  rubbing  his  eyes;  tucked  up  his  feet 
in  the  chair,  crossed  his  legs,  and  sat  Brahmin- 
fashion.) 
I  want  to  'splain  some  things.    I  am  Moonstone.    I 
will  sit  like  this.    You  are  not  easy  to  read;  you  wrap 
yourself  up  as  in  a  cloak.    Your  life  has  great  limita- 
tions.   You  want  to  obtain  knowledge,  to  help  others. 
It  is  difficult  for  your  own  people  to  come  back  and 
give  you  things  in  the  minute  manner  desired. 

You  never  was  quite  strong  right  from  the  early 
times.  You  always  want  to  do  things  very  thoroughly. 
What  laid  you  on  one  side  was  not  so  much  that  one 
part  of  the  body  was  affected;  the  whole  organism 
was  strained,  and  affected  one  part.  A  muscle  at  the 
top  of  the  heart  has  been  hurt  and  damaged.  It  is  a 
localisation  of  the  general  sensitiveness.  You  have  a 
curious  feeling  at  the  left  side,  not  so  much  pain  as  a 
numbness;  sometimes  the  heart  goes  quick,  then  sub- 
sides and  feels  as  if  it  were  going  to  stop,  and  all  the 
blood  leaves  the  head.  Faintness.  Is  it  not  so? 
J.  A.  H. :  Mostly  right.  But  not  the  faintness. 
Moonstone:  I  see  no  reason  why  you  should  not 
recover.  As  you  advance  to  fifty  the  trouble  will 
affect  you  less.  You  have  drawn  on  your  reserve 
strength  for  mental  power.  You  have  now  learnt 
how  to  save  up  your  reserves.  You  will  get  better. 
A  lady  comes  who  passed  into  spirit  life  many  years 


196        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

ago.  Medium  height,  roundish  face,  dark  hair,  lips 
full,  forty-five  to  fifty.  Hair  partly  grey.  Suffered  a 
great  deal  internally.  Cancer  or  tumour.  She  is 
building  up  at  the  side  of  you  [to  M.  H.].  Do  you 
know  her? 
M.  H.:    Yes. 

Marie  Anne.  Not  quite  right.  Marie  is  right.  It 
is  Marie  something. 

J.  A.  H. :    "Napier,"  perhaps? 

[I  was  thinking,  quite  wrongly,  of  Mrs.  Napier, 
the  late  owner  of  the  box  previously  mentioned, 
whose  real  name  is  rather  like   "Marie''   at  the 
beginning.  ] 
Moonstone:    No.    That  is  a  second  name.    This 
is  a  first  name — what  you  call  a  Christian  name.     It 
is  one  word.    Marie  Anne.    No. 
M.  H.:    Is  it  Marianne? 
Moonstone:    Marianne.    Marion. 

[Seemed  rather  puzzled,  and  inclined  to  Marion. 
"Marianne" — my   sister's   name — is  perhaps   less 
familiar  to  Peters.] 
She  was  very  ill,  mademoiselle.    Very  patient.    Six 
months  hopeless.     Pain  disappeared  before  the  end. 
Body  could  suffer  no  more.    Clever  with  fingers ;  house 
things  with  her  fingers.     It  is  all  frag-men-tary.     An- 
other opportunity. 

I  like  you  [to  M.  H.].  You  are  very  discriminat- 
ing, and  feel  things  very  intensely.  You  have  put 
yourself  on  one  side,  yet  you  have  got  a  great  deal  of 
joy  out  of  other  things.  You  are  not  sorry  you  have 
lived  a  little  behind  the  curtain,  and  you  would  not 
change  places  with  those  who  have  had  a  more  active 
outward  life.     Spiritualism  will  come  to  you  a  little 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     197 

more  personally  than  it  has  done.  You  are  going  to 
weave  it  into  your  life.  I  like  you  for  putting  yourself 
on  one  side. 

[All  very  good.     My  mother  is  fairly  well  de- 
scribed,  and  she  died  of  cancer.     This  has  not 
appeared  in  print  before.] 
M.  H.  (giving  ring)  :    Does  this  convey  anything  to 
you*? 

Moonstone  :  A  place  apart.  This  used  to  be  worn 
here  [putting  it  on  the  wedding-ring  finger] .  She  got 
thinner  before  death.  You  got  a  brooch  as  well  as 
this  ring.  There  was  also  a  watch  you  gave  away. 
You  did  not  want  to  feel  greedy  or  to  cause  jealousy. 
This  belonged  to  someone  very  unselfish,  very  sweet 
and  gentle.  Progressive,  a  good  talker,  but  not  like 
my  Medie. 

[Laughs;    in    fact,    general    amusement,    for 
Peters  is  a  fluent  talker.] 
Good    memory;    very    tactful.      Was    that    your 
mother? 
.    J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

Moonstone:  What  a  splendid  character!  She  is 
with  you.  There  was  an  intense  feeling  of  love  for 
the  lot  of  you  together. 

[All  this  is  good,  of  my  mother.    The  ring  was 

her  wedding-ring,  now  strengthened  and  set  with 

diamonds.     Correct  about  brooch  and  watch,  but 

no  point  in  "jealousy."] 

You  have  a  brother  or  a  sister  on  the  other  side; 

died  in  childhood.     [Incorrect.] 

You  follow  what  I  tell  you  about  your  mother? 

J.  A.  H.:    Yes. 

Moonstone:     Fond  of  music.     Did  not  play  or 


198        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

sing,  but  fond  of  church  music.  I  see  an  old  church, 
not  modem,  rather  worse  for  wear.  Tower.  Rather 
high  pews.    Did  she  attend  church^ 

J.  A.  H. :  No;  not  what  is  usually  understood  by 
"church." 

[This  was  practically  telling,  but  the  matter 
seemed  unimportant.] 
Moonstone:    What  you  call  "chape?"? 
J.A.H.:    Yes. 

Moonstone:  She  shows  me  a  church,  or  a  place 
with  pews.  You  did  not  like  going  [to  J.  A.  H.]. 
He  used  to  preach  long  sermons.  [True,  but  guessable 
enough.  ] 

Did  she  give  you  sweets  to  keep  you  quiet  and 
divide  them  in  two  to  make  them  last  longer^  You 
used  to  sit  at  her  right  side. 

[First  part  guessable;  the  other  two  probably 
true — vaguely  remembered.  ] 
The  pews  had  doors. 
J.  A.  H. :    I  don't  think  so. 

[I  was  thinking  of  the  Thornton  chapel,  but 
until  I  was  five  we  lived  near  Halifax,  and  the 
pews  may  have  had  doors,  probably  had. 
Moonstone:    Died  of  cancer.     Got  very  tired  be- 
fore she  died.    You  was  in  a  bigger  house  then. 
J.  A.  H. :    No. 

Moonstone:  You  are  going  to  write  something; 
a  bigger  book  than  before.  It  will  reach  a  wider  pub- 
lic. But  do  not  hurry  it.  It  will  speak  more  to  the 
heart  than  before ;  the  others  have  been  to  the  intellect 
[tapping  forehead]. 

You  know  how  he  works?  [To  M.  H.,  who  said 
"Yes."]     It  will  be  translated  into  three  languages. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     199 

Now  I  must  go.  I  am  sorry  not  to  have  done  bet- 
ter for  you. 

J.  A.  H. :  You  have  done  quite  well,  and  we  can 
only  do  our  best. 

Moonstone:  Thank  you.  Do  better  next  time, 
perhaps.    Going  now.    Good-bye. 

J.  A.  H.  and  M.  H. :    Good-bye.     [4.10  p.m.] 

A  little  twitching  and  eye-rubbing,  and  Peters  was 
himself  again  very  quickly — probably  within  two  min- 
utes. We  talked  about  things  in  general,  or,  rather, 
we  let  him  talk  in  order  that  he  might  come  round  in 
his  own  way,  for  about  ten  minutes. 

When  the  name  "Marianne"  was  almost  correctly 
got  by  Moonstone — apparently  from  my  mother — in 
this  sitting,  both  my  sister  and  I  thought  it  was  slightly 
evidential,  for  I  had  not  used  her  name  in  his  pres- 
ence. But,  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  I  seemed  to  re- 
member, dimly,  that  she  once  wrote  to  him  at  my 
request,  when  I  was  down  with  influenza,  telling  him 
not  to  come.  (This  recent  visit  was  our  first  meeting 
with  him,  but  I  asked  him  for  a  date  in  January,  1915, 
and  he  was  coming  if  I  had  not  stopped  him  by  a 
telegram  of  which  the  letter  was  a  confirmation.)  For- 
tunately, I  have  found  the  copy  of  this  letter,  and 
it  is  signed  in  full,  "Marianne  Hill."  The  date  is 
January  25th,  1915.  Hence,  though  it  seems  unlikely 
that  Peters  would  consciously  remember  the  name, 
the  fact  that  he  has  known  it  removes  the  at-first-sup- 
posed  evidentiality. 

This  is  a  rather  instructive  instance  of  the  untrust- 
worthiness  of  memory.  I  have  a  rather  good  mem- 
ory for  details,  but  at  the  time  of  the  sitting  and  for 
some  time  afterwards  I  had  no  conscious  recollection 


200        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

of  that  letter;  and  when  I  asked  my  sister  whether  she 
had  written  to  Peters  for  me  at  that  time,  she  did  not 
remember  having  done  so. 


SITTING  14 

March  '^rd,  1916,  with  A.  V,  Peters.  Present,  J.  A.  H,, 
M.  H.,  and  medium. 

In  the  following  report  I  omit  a  few  things  which 
concern  living  people  only  slightly  known  to  me;  but 
the  omitted  portions  do  not  count  either  way  with 
regard  to  evidentiality. 

Medium  came  in  at  2.45  p.m. 

P. :  Have  you  anything  you  specially  want  me  to 
do? 

J.  A.  H. :  Here  is  a  letter  from  a  friend  of  mine 
who  has  lost  a  relative.  I  should  like  to  get  a  message 
for  him.  But  if  you  don't  get  anything  in  a  few  min- 
utes, I  will  give  you  something  else. 

[I  had  prepared  and  written  out  these  sentences, 
and  had  them  before  me  as  I  spoke.  The  letter 
was  from  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  contained  nothing 
that  would  indicate  the  writer's  identity.  It  was 
entirely  about  a  certain  Greek  sentence.  I  had, 
of  course,  cut  ofF  the  address  and  the  signature. 
At  that  time  Sir  Oliver  had  never  written  to  Peters ; 
moreover,  I  gave  the  letter  wrong  way  round,  so 
that  he  could  not  read  it  or  get  much  idea  of  the 
handwriting.  He  folded  it  up  instantly,  crushed 
it  into  his  left  palm,  and  put  the  hand  behind  him.] 
P. :  The  man  who  has  written  this  letter  is  very 
quick,, active,  clever.    Used  to  writing.    I  have  a  curi- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS    201 

ous  feeling  of  wanting  to  speak  rapidly,  though  he 
expresses  himself  deliberately.  He  has  his  thoughts 
pretty  well  pigeon-holed.  No  loose  thinking.  No  un- 
formed theories  of  life.  Busy,  active  life.  Much  kind- 
ness and  sympathy,  though  the  heart  side  is  not  seen 
by  everybody ;  rather  hidden  away. 

This  passing  away  made  a  tremendous  difference  to 
the  writer's  life.  Before,  he  had  an  amateurish  interest 
in  spirit  return;  it  is  now  different.  Great  interest. 
.  .  .  Deep,  affectionate  nature;  firm  and  lasting  in 
friendship. 

I  don't  understand  this:  kind  of  fragmentary;  St. 
Paul  comes  here.  Somebody  is  laughing  and  saying, 
"St.  Paul."  Truly  religious;  done  a  great  deal  of 
intellectual  work,  but  not  like  it  will  be  done  in  future. 
It  will  be  better  still.  This  is  the  man  of  the  letter. 
He  is  somebody  one  can  rely  on. 

[Sir  Oliver  has  had  many  communications  from 
a  soi'disant  Myers,  through  several  different  me- 
diums, and  an  allusion  to  St.  Paul  has  been  used 
before,  as  an  indication  of  identity.  "St.  Paul"  is, 
of  course,  Myers's  best-known  poem.] 
A  lady's  influence  comes;  affectionate,  loving,  con- 
siderate, good  housewife. 

Now  there  is  contact  with  a  young  life:  medium 
height,  broad  forehead,  light  eyes,  longish  hands,  ath- 
letic build,  quick  in  action  and  thought,  full  lips, 
bright  and  intellectual.  Somebody  who  has  passed 
away.  His  passing  came  quickly  and  unexpectedly. 
A  feeling  of  happiness  now.  This  is  not  his  first  time 
of  communication.  He  has  attempted  in  three  differ- 
ent manners.    I  cannot  form  my  ideas  properly;  I  can't 


202        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

tell  why.    Queer.    I  feel  unable  to  express  myself  in 
English.    Do  you  know  why? 

J.  A.  H.:    No. 

[Perhaps  indication  of  death  abroad.  Lieuten- 
ant Raymond  Lodge  was  killed  in  Flanders.] 

P. :  I  am  to  get  at  this  young  life.  First  the  writer 
of  the  letter,  then  a  lady,  then  the  young  life. 

Tremendous  interest  on  the  other  side  created  by 
this  spirit's  passing,  because  there  has  been  work 
stopped. 

[Not  understood.] 

In  many  ways  I  am  sorry  [P.  seemed  to  be  repeat- 
ing what  was  dictated  from  the  other  side;  eyes  shut], 
and  did  not  want  to  leave  the  body.  But  I  am  not 
alone,  and  the  work  I  have  started  is  going  to  reach 
out  to  hundreds.  .  .  .  Feeling  of  rest.  This  spirit 
links  up  with  you.  You  may  not  have  known  him — 
I  don't  know.  But  you  are  going  to  have  something 
to  do  with  it.  .  .  . 

Hang  it  all!  what  has  "human  personality"  to  do 
with  it*?  [Medium  jumped  up  and  sat  down  again.] 
I  feel  I  want  to  throw  back  my  head  and  laugh,  and 
say:    What  has  "human  personality"  to  do  with  it? 

[No  doubt  everybody  knows  about  Myers's  great 
work.  Human  Personality  and  Its  Survival  of  Bod- 
ily Death. ^ 

I  like  this  influence.  Pleasant,  soothing,  nothing 
restless.  Now  the  laughter  has  gone,  and  there-  is  a 
sterner  note.  Tell  Father  every  word.  [Said  slowly 
and  very  impressively.]     Please  put  this  down. 

Tell  Father  that  the  time  has  come  when  the  veil 
must  be  dropped.  I  can  do  no  more.  He  will  have 
to  do  the  rest  himself. 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS    203 

Great  love  of  books,  but  I  would  not  say  he  was 
a  booky  man.  Too  great  interest  in  life  for  that.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  only  a  survival  .  .  .  m —  .  .  .  can't  get 
it.  .  .  .  Not  only  persistence  but  intelligent  commu- 
nication between  the  two  planes  of  existence.  Not  sim- 
ply a  knocking  on  the  rocks  but  a  great  hole  has  now 
been  bored.  [This  reference  to  the  tunnel  metaphor 
in  Sir  Oliver's  Survival  of  Man^  p.  337,  original  edi- 
tion, was  similarly  used  as  an  identity- touch  at  Lady 
Lodge's  first  sitting  with  Peters,  when  she  was  intro- 
duced anonymously,  at  a  friend's  house  in  London. 
See  Sir  Oliver's  recent  book,  Raymond:  A  Treatise  on 
Life  and  Deaths  p.  133.]  .  .  .  Do  not  be  surprised; 
I  have  come  into  touch  with  Huxley.  I  send  my  love 
to  four,  no,  five.  [It  happens  that  five  of  the  Lodge 
family  had  had  sittings  at  which  Raymond  had  pur- 
ported to  communicate;  and  the  medium  was  not  al- 
ways Peters.  One  daughter  went  with  Lady  Lodge, 
and  the  "four,  no,  five"  perhaps  indicates  that  she 
was  momentarily  overlooked.  ] 

That's  all.  [Medium  throws  crumpled  letter  on 
table.    I  gave  him  a  glove  of  Mrs.  Napier's.] 

Restlessness.  Careful  and  particular.  Not  very 
tall,  longish  face,  broad  forehead.  Face  went  thin 
before  passing  out.  Precise,  punctual,  loving,  gentle 
in  disposition.  Feeling  of  pain.  ...  A  big  tradition ; 
quiet,  yet  ancestry  at  the  back  of  it ;  outside,  a  grey  life, 
but  very  active  really.  Has  been  able  to  come  before, 
but  not  as  successfully  as  she  wished.  Tried  through 
two  different  women,  one  of  them  probably  not  a  pro- 
fessional medium,  for  I  see  her  in  a  comfortable,  pro- 
tected home  life. 

Proud  of  ancestry.     Ancestors  have  done  things. 


204        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Patient.     Neat  in  clothing.     Religious,   but  broad- 
minded. 

[Pretty  good,  but  not  specific  enough  to  be  evi- 
dential. 

Medium  rubs  his  eyes  and  tucks  his  feet  up. 
3.20  p.m.] 

Moonstone:    Here  I  come  at  last! 

We  are  here  and  alive  all  right,  if  we  haven't  got 
troublesome  bodies  any  more.  No  suffering  of  that 
sort.  The  only  thing  we  suffer  from  is  remorse. 
Know  what  that  is? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes. 

M. :  But  it  is  no  good  worrying  over  it,  for  what 
is  done  is  done.  Some  people  are  very  apt  to  sit  down 
and  think  of  their  sins.  No  good.  I  was  a  Yogi.  My 
life  was  given  up  to  salvation  of  my  soul ;  escape  from 
reincarnation.  It  was  selfish,  in  a  way;  but  it  was 
what  I  had  been  taught.  Repentance  is  very  good; 
but  when  you  have  gone  downhill  into  valley  of  re- 
pentance, no  good  sticking  there,  worrying  with  re- 
morse. Thing  to  do  is  to  get  up  and  walk  up  the  hill 
again.  So  with  life  on  both  sides,  though  you  have 
bodies  and  we  haven't. 

But  many  people  think  they  can  advance  in  life 
better  with  us  than  in  the  body.  It  is  not  so.  Bodily 
mistakes  are  best  corrected  while  in  the  body.  Over- 
come the  sins  of  the  material  world  while  in  that  world, 
and  help  others  to  do  the  same. 

You  cogitate  a  lot  on  met-a-feesical  subjects? 

J.  A.  H. :    Yes,  I  suppose  so. 

M. :  Spiritualism  has  not  given  you  much  food  for 
thought.  The  literature  has  disappointed  you.  But 
what  chance  do  the  mediums  have,  poor  beggars !    Ma- 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     205 

jority  of  them  is  knocked  about  from  pillar  to  post, 
pushed  round  to  trot  out  evidence.  What  time  have 
they,  or  what  chance,  for  thinking  and  metaphysics  ^ 

J.  A.  H. :    True.    I  sympathise. 

M. :  But  knov^ledge  is  best  when  worked  for.  It  is 
best  to  find  it  himself.  We  only  really  have  what  we 
have  laboured  for. 

Spirit  world  is  an  extension  of  earth  experience. 
When  there  is  wrong  use  of  anything,  best  to  make 
it  right.  Easier  to  right  wrong  while  in  physical  world. 
But  I  don't  want  to  talk  metaphysics  to  you,  for  I 
have  plenty  to  see. 

When  you  are  doing  a  good  hard  think,  as  you  often 
do,  an  idea  will  come  into  your  mind.  You  analyse 
it  away,  away,  away.  Where  has  it  originated?  It 
has  come  from  our  side.  You  are  going  to  write 
a  book.  You  are  able  to  present  an  outline  of  the 
philosophy  of  spiritualism  so  that  not  only  people  of 
elephantine  brains,  but  ordinary  people,  can  under- 
stand. 

Now  to  pierce  the  mist,  if  I  can. 

You  have  got  two  or  three  of  you  a  link  together. 
You  want  to  bring  spiritualism  into  touch  with  a  better 
class  of  people.  Feeling  of  wanting  to  elevate  it,  and 
let  people  see  that  there  is  a  great  truth  at  the  back 
of  it.  Not  only  you,  but  four  or  five  persons,  mostly 
men.  I  go  away  into  very  busy  place,  then  into  a 
suburb  district  where  it  has  been  originated,  to  link 
on  to  London.  There  is  a  certain  Society:  they  want 
to  link  it  on.  Not  originated  with  you,  but  with 
our  side.  The  time  has  come  when  it  has  to  be  ap- 
proached differently.  Something  world-wide  useful, 
and  not  only  scientific. 


2o6        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

[Moonstone  then  began  to  speak  very  deliber- 
ately, and  most  of  the  leaders  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  living  and  dead,  were  alluded 
to.     For  various  reasons,  this  part  must  be  omit- 
ted.] 
The  disasters  that  have  swept  over  earth  recently 
have  stirred  up  more  emotion  from  your  side  to  ours, 
and  made  communication  easier. 

Not  good,  he  tells  me.     Can't  get  it. 
There  was  a  man  all  fireworks,  known  as  Stead.    Al- 
though making  many  mistakes,  he  was  yet  right  in  the 
main. 

It  doesn't  matter  how  communications  come,  if  they 
come. 

Tell  Hill  [slowly  and  emphatically],  tell  Hill — 
that's  you — I  want  this  transcribed  and  sent  to  O.  L., 
because  it  is  for  him  more  than  for  Hill. 

It  is  only  through  him  that  this  regeneration  can 
come.  If  he  does  not  do  it,  then  the  means  which  we 
have  at  our  hands  will  be  removed  from  our  country 
and  the  time  will  be  past. 

This  comes  from  a  group  of  personalities  who  are 
behind  you  [J.  A.  H.]. 

There  is  a  man  in  that  group  with  a  long  face,  and 
hair  cut  in  a  curious  way.  Parted  in  the  middle. 
Large  eyes,  long  nose.  Moustache,  long  hand,  slight 
body.  An  air  of  breeding;  highly  intellectual;  deliber- 
ate method.  Greek  letters;  he  was  a  Greek  scholar. 
Very  interested  in  you.  A  lady  to  do  with  him.  He 
make  A.  S. 

[Curiously,  I  did  not  think  of  Professor  Sidg- 
wick,  perhaps  because  I  knew  he  had  a  beard  and 
parted  his  hair  at  the  side.     The  moustache  and 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS    207 

middle  parting  would  apply  to  Edmund  Gumey, 

who  is  one  of  the  S.P.R.  group  on  the  other  side.] 

He  has  been  on  the  other  side  a  fairly  long  time. 

Interested  in  this  subject  intellectually.     It  ends  up 

with  *Vick"  or  "dick." 

[This,  of  course,  indicated  plainly  who  was  in- 
tended.] 
J.  A.  H. :    Are  you  sure  about  the  A? 
M. :    It  looked  like  A. 

[Dr.  Sidgwick's  name  was  Henry,  and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  medium  knows  or  will  have  known 
it.    It  is  therefore  curious  that  this  mistake  should 
be  made;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  if  the  uprights 
of  H  were  made  carelessly,  slanting  inward  at  the 
top,  the  letter  would  look  like  A.] 
Interested  in  the  subject,  but  not  very  heartily  in 
it.    He  now  sees  the  necessity  of  appealing  to  the  mid- 
dle-class average  man.    He  led  a  quiet  life :  would  have 
been  in  a  monastery.  Lived  in  a  college.  This  isn't  the 
man  who  gave  that  message.     Oh,  no;  the  man  who 
gave  the  message  is  different. 

Languid:   retiring — still  talking  about  the  college 
man.    Used  to  talking  to  students. 
J.  A.  H. :    Did  he  speak  fluently*? 

[Thinking  of  his  stammer.    Control  looked  puz- 
zled; guessed — and  guessed  wrong.] 
M. :    Yes.    Clearly.    Sentences  cut  like  a  diamond. 
People  would  listen  to  all  he  had  to  say. 

They  are  trying  an  experiment  to-day;  trying  to 
get  at  the  man  the  Medie  is  afraid  of.  There's  a  man 
comes  to  see  the  Medie  he's  afraid  of.  But  don't  say 
so  to  him,  for  he  likes  to  make  out  that  he  has  the 
courage  of  a  lion! 


2o8        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

[At  Sir  Oliver's  first  sitting  with  Peters,  anony- 
mously, the  medium  said  he  was  afraid  of  him,  but 
did  not  know  why.    Sir  Oliver's  appearance  is  well 
known  and  striking,  and  he  may  have  been  recog- 
nised; but  in  answer  to  a  question  of  mine  in  Oc- 
tober, 1916,  Peters  said  he  had  no  idea  who  that 
sitter  was  until  after  his  next  visit.     The  sittings 
were  at  Peters's  London  rooms,  and  were  arranged 
by  me  for  an  unnamed  friend.     I  think  Peters 
would  be  expecting  some  Bradford  or  local  man, 
but,  of  course,  this  is  only  conjecture.     It  is  note- 
worthy that  at  Lady  Lodge's  first  and  anonymous 
sitting  with  Peters,  Raymond  said  she  had  done 
right  to  come  "without  father,"  as  the  latter  would 
have  frightened  the  medium  out  of  his  wits.    There 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  Lady  Lodge  was  rec- 
ognised by  the  medium;  this  sitting  was  not  ar- 
ranged by  me  but  by  a  London  friend  of  Lady 
Lodge.] 
Who's  the  old  man  got  funny  whiskers^     Square 
forehead,  hair  caught  away  here  [indicating  temples], 
nose  full,   clean-shaven  lips,   upper  lip  hangs  over. 
Whiskers  here  [indicating  sides] .    Scientific,  cold.  Not 
a  man  you  would  tell  your  heart  troubles  to.     Very 
clever.    Cold,  scientific  aspect. 

[It  is  fairly  certain  that  this  is  meant  for  Hux- 
ley; the  description  is  good,  though  the  coldness — 
a  popular  view — is  probably  exaggerated.] 
That  man  who  sent  the  message.     Fairly  tall,  ex- 
pressive eyes,  long  nose,  face  gone  thin.     Moustache. 
Had  led  a  retired  life.    Done  a  lot  of  teaching. 

[Seems  to  be  a  Sidgwick-Gurney-Myers  mix-up, 
here.] 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     209 

A  man  not  apart  from  human  feelings  [Terence, 
Nihil  humani^  etc.].  Was  family  man;  married.  Not 
coldly  scientific.  Deeply  religious.  Interested  first  in 
spiritualism,  attracted  by  the  possibilities  in  universal 
testimony  of  the  collected  hallucinations  and  of  the 
testimony  of  the  subject  of  being  able  to  receive  the 
news  of  death  at  a  distance  [said  slowly  and  in  a  puz- 
zled way,  like  a  child  repeating  something  only  half 
understood.  ] 

J.  A.  H. :  He's  talking  about  the  Census  of  Hallu- 
cinations.    [Proceedings^  S.P.R.,  Vol.  x.] 

M.:   That's  it! 

In  meeting  a  lady.  Miss  [here  I  expected  Miss  Alice 
Johnson's  name]  X.  .  .  .  G.  F.  .  .  .  X.  G.  F.  .  .  . 
she  helped  me  only  a  little  [Miss  Goodrich-Freer  wrote 
at  first  as  "Miss  X,"  but  no  doubt  the  medium  knows 
that].  For  some  time  I  was  beating  about  the  wilder- 
ness .  .  .  not  right.  For  some  time  I  was  wander- 
ing about  the  wilderness  until  I  met  the  lady  who 
helped  me.  Illness  came.  A  removal  came.  A  jour- 
ney came.  Death  came.  [Myers  died  in  Rome,  but  no 
removal  late  in  life.]  But  not  the  finish;  my  book  I 
left  behind.  [Human  Personality  was  published  after 
his  death.] 

This  is  a  strong  message.  Now  I  am  told  your  part 
of  the  work  commences  from  that  point.  You  were 
attracted  by  the  cross-correspondences  [not  specially 
true ;  I  was  a  member  of  the  S.P.R.  earlier  than  that] . 
Being  laid  on  one  side  you  had  time  to  think  and  cogi- 
tate. Being  brought  into  touch  with  other  people  who 
thought  along  your  intellectual  lines — and  especially 
with  one — you  saw  the  necessity  of  widening  the  out- 
look, but  you  did  not  see  the  possibility.    Now  the  war 


210        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

has  come,  so  I  am  linked  on  to  the  beginning  of  the 
message.     [  Pause.  ] 

J.  A.  H. :    Does  Horace  remind  you  of  anything  in 
connexion  with  O.  L.? 

[I  had  prepared  this.    It  gave  nothing  away,  for 
Moonstone  had  already  mentioned  O.  L.,  and  there 
is  much  about  Horace  in  connexion  with  Myers, 
in  Proceedings  S.P.R.     But  my  aim  was  to  see 
whether  anything  would  come  relevant  to  an  un- 
published piece  of  Piper  script  which  I  had  seen, 
in  which  Myers  sent  a  special  message  to  Sir  Oliver, 
embodied  in  an  allusion  to  an  Horatian  ode,  Bk.  2, 
xvii.,  saying  that  he  would  act  Faunus  to  Sir  Oli- 
ver's Poet;  i.e.  shield  him  from  some  blow,   as 
Faunus  shielded  Horace  from  the  falling  tree.    See 
Raymond,  p.  90  and  foil.,  and  Proceedings  S.P.R., 
Part  Ixxii.,  p.  ill  and  foil.] 
M.  [after  pause] :    Can't  get  his  answer. 
Very  curious.    I  see  verses.    Too  indefinite.    Verses 
in  English  language.    "O  had  I  a  little  farm !"  What's 
this  mean?     I  get  a  picture  of  two  mice.  .  .  .  One 
mouse  is  very  smooth  and  nice;  hair  brushed  prettily; 
fat.     The  other  is  rough  and  not  so  pretty.     A  little 
laugh.     Somebody  is  laughing.     I  am  in  contact  with 
someone  who  hasn't  forgotten  how  to  laugh. 

What  has  that  to  do  with  a  book?  A  little  book, 
covered  with  leather.  Curious  title-page,  much  worn. 
Dear  to  you  through  age.  It  is  held  up  to  me.  That's 
all.  .  .  . 

The  power  is  slackening. 

Medie  was  a  little  afraid  of  you  at  first. 

Going  now.     Do  not  move  until  the  Medie  is  quite 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS     211 

right  again,  for  I  have  had  him  pretty  deep.     Good- 
bye. 

[Medium  came  round  with  ejaculations.  "Oh, 
dear!  Have  you  ever  had  gas^  It's  like  that," 
etc.] 

The  answers  to  my  Horace  question  are  curious.  I 
was  not  reminded  of  anything  in  particular  by  either 
the  farm  or  the  mice,  for  I  was  thinking  of  Faunus. 
But  on  looking  up  I  found  that  the  reference  is  obvi- 
ously to  Satire  vi.  in  Book  ii.  of  Horace's  Satires,  in 
which  he  describes  his  little  farm  and  quotes  the  fable 
of  the  Town  Mouse  and  the  Country  Mouse,  in  con- 
nexion with  his  own  preference  for  country  life.  Mr. 
Piddington  {Proceedings  S.P.R.,  Part  Ixxii.)  sees  in 
all  this  an  apposite  and  evidential  Myersian  answer  to 
my  query,  for  it  was  on  Horace's  little  farm  that  the 
tree  fell  and  nearly  killed  him.  A  direct  reference  to 
Faunus  would  have  been  attributed  to  a  reading  of  my 
mind;  a  roundabout  allusion  was  therefore  made,  in 
order  to  exclude  telepathy. 

Another  interpretation,  to  which  Sir  Oliver  Lodge 
inclines,  is  that  the  answer  refers  to  Mr.  Oliver  W.  F. 
Lodge — Sir  Oliver's  eldest  son — who  has  written 
"verses  in  English  language"  and  had  recently  moved 
to  a  "little  farm,"  very  like  Horace's,  near  Tintem. 
If  so,  telepathy  from  me  is  quite  excluded,  for  I  knew 
nothing  of  Mr.  Oliver  Lodge's  move. 

The  difficulty  is,  of  course,  to  decide  not  only  which 
of  the  two  is  the  more  probable,  but  also  whether  either 
of  them  is  necessary.  Most  reading  people  have  read 
Horace,  and  Peters's  own  memory-stores,  including  his 
subliminal  strata,  may  be  enough  to  account  for  what 
was  said,   without  assuming  any  external  mind.     I 


212        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

questioned  him  afterwards  about  his  knowledge  of 
Horace,  and  his  conscious  recollection  seems  to  be  al- 
most nil.  He  thought  the  Mice  fable  was  in  Prior. 
(Prior  does  refer  to  it,  but  does  not  reproduce  it.)  But 
we  have  to  allow  for  subliminal  recollection  also,  and 
it  is  unsafe  to  assume  total  ignorance  of  anything  in 
so  widely-read  an  author  as  Horace. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  so  far 
as  Peters  could  know,  my  question  was  not  necessarily 
about  Horace  the  poet  at  all.  It  might  have  been  in 
reference  to  some  modern  Horace,  living  or  dead,  con- 
nected with  "O.  L."  The  immediate  acceptance  of 
it  as  meaning  Horace  the  poet  seems  to  tell  slightly  in 
favour  of  an  interpretation  involving  the  presence  and 
action  of  Myers,  who  would  at  once  understand  what 
I  was  after.  And  the  manner  of  the  reply  was  quite 
in  character  with  other  cryptic  Myersian  allusions 
which  have  come  through  in  other  quarters.  Moreover, 
although  much  of  the  matter  of  the  sitting  is  common 
knowledge,  I  think  there  are  many  indications  of  super- 
normality,  and  even  of  discarnate  agency.  In  the  first 
place,  even  if  Peters  knew  of  my  association  with  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge — certainly  he  had  learnt  nothing  of  it 
from  me, — it  seems  unlikely  that  his  psychometry  of 
the  letter  was  guesswork.  It  might  have  been  quite 
off  the  mark,  for  I  get  many  letters  from  people  who 
have  lost  relatives  recently.  And  there  are  many  little 
points  which  seem  possibly  evidential.  For  instance, 
the  S.P.R.  group  is  indicated  in  a  curiously  ingenious 
and  "composite"  sort  of  way.  Sidgwick,  Myers,  and 
Gumey  are  suggested  as  shown  in  the  notes.  There 
remains  Hodgson.  And,  though  his  name  is  not  men- 
tioned, the  references  to  laughter,  and  particularly  to 


MEDIUM'S  LETTERS,  AND  REPORTS    213 

throwing  back  the  head  and  laughing,  are  extremely 
applicable  to  him,  and  not  specially  to  the  others.  The 
references  to  Sir  Oliver's  book  and  to  my  own  may 
be  guesses,  but  they  certainly  went  beyond  the  medi- 
um's knowledge.  On  the  whole,  then,  I  think  that 
at  least  some  supernormality  is  justifiably  inferrible, 
and  that  some  amount  of  other-side  communication 
probably  took  place. 

As  to  whether  Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  or  Mr.  Pidding- 
ton's  interpretation  of  the  Horace  incident  is  the  more 
correct,  I  do  not  know.  It  does  not  matter  much,  for 
both  indicate  a  Myers  source.  In  fact,  they  may  both 
be  true.  Myers  may  have  had  both  Faunus  and  Mr. 
Oliver  Lodge's  farm  in  mind.  He  knew  Mr.  O.  L.  in 
life,  and  took  a  kindly  interest  in  his  budding  poetic 
faculty;  and  it  is  natural  that  he  should  be  interested 
in  the  move  of  the  son  of  his  old  friend  to  a  Horace- 
like farm  which,  moreover,  lent  itself  to  an  evidential 
message  in  his  characteristic  manner. 

But  I  do  not  consider  this  sitting  a  really  good 
one.  It  is  interesting  but  not  evidentially  strong. 
Much  of  the  matter  is  mere  padding  or  control-talk, 
and  the  indications  of  an  external  mind  are  suggestive 
rather  than  coercive. 


CHAPTER  VII 

OF   MEDIUMS,   SITTERS,  AND   "tRIVIAL"    EVIDENCE 

Lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  the  obtainment  of 
evidence  is  a  quite  certain  and  facile  matter,  it  is  per- 
haps desirable  to  elaborate  the  warning  on  this  head. 
Investigators  are  sometimes  found  to  begin  their  quest 
with  such  high  expectations  of  immediate  success  that 
a  few  disappointments  come  as  a  painful  shock;  and 
there  is  danger  that  they  may  rush  to  other  extremes 
and  believe  either  that  evidence  is  so  elusive  and 
exceptional  that  it  is  hardly  worth  the  trouble — and 
may,  indeed,  be  attributed  to  happy  chance — or  that 
we  who  have  obtained  it  are  somehow  or  other  mis- 
taken. The  right  attitude  is  one  of  open-minded  hope- 
fulness, with  small  expectancy,  and  judgment  held 
alert  and  critical.  Careful  notes  should  be  taken  at 
the  time — verbatim  if  possible,  though  this  necessi- 
tates the  easy  use  of  shorthand — and  particular  at- 
tention should  be  given  to  noting  down  what  is  said 
by  the  sitter,  so  that  in  studying  the  report  afterwards 
it  will  be  possible  to  estimate  with  some  reliability  the 
amount  of  information  imparted  or  inferrible.  And 
what  the  medium  says  should  be  reported  as  fully  as 
possible;  firstly,  in  order  that  the  correct  statements 
may  be  compared  with  the  incorrect  in  total,  and  a 
decision  arrived  at  as  to  the  likelihood  of  chance  coin- 
cidence giving  the  proportion  of  success  achieved;  sec- 
ondly, because  things  which  are  unrecognised  and  ap- 

214 


MEDIUMS  AND  EVIDENCE  215 

parently  negligible  may  turn  out  important  in  the 
light  of  further  sittings,  as  the  reader  will  have  noticed 
in  my  own  investigations. 

It  is,  of  course,  vitally  important  that  a  good 
medium  should  be  chosen,  particularly  for  the  first 
experiments,  when  failure  would  be  most  likely  to  dis- 
courage. I  have  sat  with  mediums  whose  futile 
-performances,  if  I  had  witnessed  them  at  the  beginning 
of  my  quest,  would  almost  certainly  have  deterred  me 
from  further  inquiry.  I  should  probably  have  assumed 
that  all  other  mediums  were  like  unto  them,  dismissing 
the  evidential  cases  which  one  reads  about  as  due  to 
chance  coincidence,  or  fraud,  or  other  normal  cause. 
I  should  have  been  wrong,  but  that  is  what  I  should 
probably  have  done. 

Like  travellers  who  spend  a  few  weeks  in  New  York 
and  then  write  books  about  America  and  the  Ameri- 
cans, we  all  are  apt  to  generalise  from  insufficient  data. 
Only  the  other  day  I  had  an  experience  with  one  of 
these  failure-mediums.  I  had  been  recommended  by  a 
prominent  and  intelligent  spiritualist  to  try  this  Mrs. 
Drury  (pseudonym),  and  I  did.  In  the  first  instance 
I  wrote  to  her  (keeping  a  copy  of  the  letter),  asking 
her  to  come  and  give  me  a  sitting,  because  I  wanted 
to  hear  from  someone  who  had  recently  died.  She 
came ;  talked  genially  and  sensibly,  and  eventually  de- 
scribed half-a-dozen  spirits  or  more,  and  would  ap- 
parently have  gone  on  indefinitely.  Not  one  of  the 
spirits  was  recognisably  anyone  ever  known  to  me. 
Only  one  name  was  correctly  got — a  very  common 
name  which  would  fit  some  deceased  relative  of  almost 
anyone.  The  medium  felt  that  someone  in  my  sur- 
roundings wept  a  great  deal  (which  is  extremely  un- 


2i6        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

true),  and  that  a  glove  which  I  gave  her  was  therewith 
associated.  The  glove,  she  thought,  had  belonged  to 
my  mother,  who  had  died  suddenly  and  without  ex- 
pecting it,  not  many  months  ago.  Apparently  she  had 
made  a  guess  that  the  recent  death  alluded  to  in  my 
letter  was  probably  my  mother's.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
my  mother  died  thirty  years  ago,  after  a  lingering  ill- 
ness which  both  she  and  everybody  round  her  knew 
to  be  incurable.  The  glove  had  not  belonged  to  her, 
but  to  a  lady  friend,  not  a  relative;  and  in  her  case 
also  the  death  was  neither  sudden  nor  unexpected. 
Mrs.  Drury  made  many  other  bad  shots ;  so  many  that 
it  was  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  the  number  of 
hits,  or  approximate  hits,  was  so  few ;  for  I  should  have 
expected  chance  to  give  her  more  than  she  got. 

Now  I  believe  this  woman  to  be  perfectly  honest. 
But  I  think  that  she  is  guided,  consciously  or  sublim- 
inally,  by  hints  given  by  sitters,  and  that  her  active 
visualising  imagination  does  the  rest.  No  doubt  she 
will  have  the  luck  to  score  a  number  of  good  hits  some- 
times, particularly  when  giving  "clairvoyant  tests"  to 
a  large  audience — for  out  of  a  hall  full  of  people 
nearly  any  sort  of  description  will  apply  to  some  de- 
ceased relative  of  somebody  present — and  an  uncritical 
person  will  tend  to  remember  the  hits  and  forget  the 
misses.  Consequently,  according  to  my  belief,  many 
"mediums"  of  the  public  kind  have  more  or  less  of  a 
reputation  which  has  no  basis  in  any  real  psychical 
endowment  at  all.  They  are  good  platform  speakers, 
and  combine  an  address  with  clairvoyance  in  the  rec- 
ognised convention  of  the  spiritualist  society;  but  the 
clairvoyance  in  their  case  is  not  real,  and,  indeed,  this 
class  of  "medium"  does  not  get  beyond  societies  of 


MEDIUMS  AND  EVIDENCE  217 

rather  weak  and  uncritical  kind.  They  are  therefore 
fairly  easily  avoided,  though  it  is  necessary  to  mention 
them  in  warning. 

But  if  care  is  taken  in  the  early  choice  and  experi- 
mentation, I  think  there  is  little  danger  of  complete 
failure.  I  regard  it  as  unlikely  that  anyone  will  fail 
to  get  some  small  measure  of  success  in  a  series  of,  say, 
half-a-dozen  sittings.  I  have  heard  of  people  having 
a  larger  number  without  getting  any  evidence,  but  I 
think  the  cases  must  have  been  exceptional,  or  perhaps 
the  sittings  were  more  or  less  public,  and  no  determined 
individual  effort  was  made.  Private  sittings,  so  that 
there  is  no  mixture  of  influences,  are  usually  essential 
to  good  results.  In  most  cases  known  to  me,  some 
evidence  of  supernormality  has  been  given  at  the  first 
sitting,  and  it  has  only  remained  to  eliminate  by  fur- 
ther experiment  the  various  alternative  hypotheses  of 
telepathy,  etc.,  which,  though  unlikely,  are  possible. 
At  my  own  first  sitting  with  a  medium,  many  years 
ago,  my  mother's  name  was  given,  her  age  at  death,  and 
its  date  (within  a  year)  and  the  name  of  the  place 
where  she  died,  from  which  locality  we  had  removed. 
I  had  told  the  medium  none  of  these  things,  and  acci- 
dental knowledge  of  them  was  improbable  to  the  point 
of  complete  incredibility;  further,  they  could  not  be 
attributed  to  chance,  for  everything  said  was  true,  so 
it  was  not  a  case  of  selecting  hits  and  ignoring  misses. 
There  were  no  misses.  Consequently,  there  was  a  clear 
issue.  It  was  either  a  reading  of  my  mind,  or  the 
medium  had  deliberately  made  inquiries  about  my 
long-deceased  mother,  or  the  communication  was  from 
some  other  mind — presumably  her  own.  Further  in- 
vestigation eliminated  the  first  two  suppositions.     It 


2i8        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

took  several  years  and  many  sittings  to  convince  me 
of  this,  for  I  wished  to  make  the  ground  thoroughly 
sure  before  risking  any  advance;  but  my  accumulat- 
ed facts  ultimately  gave  me  an  amply  solid  basis  for 
the  new  conclusion  of  the  genuine  agency  of  discarnate 
human  intelligences. 

Now  as  to  the  alleged  "triviality"  of  communica- 
tions. Some  inquirers  at  the  beginning  of  their  quest, 
or,  rather,  at  the  beginning  of  their  reading  of  the 
literature  of  the  subject,  object  to  the  triviality  and 
the  so-to-speak  secular  tone  of  the  reported  messages. 
They  think  that  a  glorified  human  being  should  ser- 
monise a  little,  or  should  at  least  tell  us  something  of 
his  present  state;  and  they  are  rather  shocked  to  find 
that  he  sends  his  love  to  this  or  that  relative,  and  is 
glad  that  his  watch  is  being  kept  for  little  nephew 
Tom.  But,  on  reflection,  this  is  surely  seen  to  be  the 
right  and  natural  thing.  As  already  said,  death  is  a 
catastrophe  on  the  physical  plane,  but  is  only  an  in- 
cident to  the  spirit.  The  man  remains  essentially  the 
same.  As  the  old  woman  said  to  Little  Nell,  in 
The  Old  Curiosity  Shop^  "death  doesn't  change  us 
more  than  life" — no,  nor  as  much.  The  other  opinion 
is  the  result  of  obsolete  theologies  which,  though  dis- 
carded, leave  a  more  or  less  subconscious  but  never- 
theless very  real  impression  behind  them;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  impression  we  feel  a  jar  or  jolt  when 
some  radically  different  idea  is  presented  to  us.  The 
Protestant  orthodoxy  of  the  last  three  centuries  sup- 
posed a  sudden  change  at  death.  Man  became  angel 
or  devil;  went  to  everlasting  bliss — ^presumably  be- 
coming perfectly  good — or  to  everlasting  torment — 
presumably  becoming  absolutely  bad — instanter. 


MEDIUMS  AND  EVIDENCE  219 

But  this  is  not  the  way  things  do  happen.  Nothing 
is  really  catastrophically  sudden  like  that.  Things 
grow  out  of  what  has  gone  before.  Lyell  showed  this 
in  geology — how,  for  instance,  sandstone  was  formed 
by  long-continued  deposition  on  the  sea  floor,  as  it 
is  being  formed  to-day.  Darwin  showed  it  in  biology, 
proving  that  species  become  gradually  differentiated, 
and  that  each  line  progresses  smoothly,  or  at  most  with 
very  small  jumps — namely,  the  favourable  variations. 
And  now  comes  the  equivalent  on  the  psychical  side. 
We  see  now  that  physical  analogies  point  to  the  proba- 
bility of  a  gradual  and  not  a  catastrophical  and  tre- 
mendous change  at  death.  A  change  there  must  be, 
in  manner  of  perception,  for  the  spirit  has  dropped 
his  old  eense-apparatus.  But  the  man  himself,  his 
spiritual  and  mental  essence,  remains  very  much  the 
same  five  minutes  after  death — to  quote  the  Bishop 
of  London — as  he  was  five  minutes  before.  That  is 
what  we  arrive  at  by  a  wide  survey  of  physical  science 
and  by  arguing  analogically  therefrom.  And  the  facts 
of  psychical  research  support  this  view.  The  spirit 
remains  himself,  with  his  old  interests.  He  progresses, 
learns,  improves,  and  gradually  passes  away  from  earth 
conditions;  but  for  some  time — the  period  varying  in 
different  cases — ^he  remains  something  like  what  he 
was.  And,  therefore,  it  is  natural  for  him  to  com- 
municate in  a  quite  human  and  secular  manner  when 
he  "returns'*  not  long  after  his  departure,  and  to  send 
the  same  sort  of  messages  to  his  loved  ones  left 
behind,  as  he  would  send  to  them  if  he  had  only 
emigrated  to  another  part  of  the  physical  world. 
Moreover,  it  is  precisely  this  kind  of  message,  with 
names  of  relatives  and  intimate  family  detail,  that 


220        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

gives  the  best  evidence  of  identity.  Those  who  demand 
sermonising  and  lofty  communications  would  speedily 
be  dissatisfied  if  they  got  them.  "How  do  we  know," 
they  would  say,  "that  this  is  a  spirit  at  all^  How 
do  we  know  the  medium  isn't  doing  it  himself?  Any- 
one with  inventive  faculty  could  talk  this  sort  of 
thing."  And  they  would  be  quite  right.  That  sort  of 
thing  would  be  eminently  unconvincing  and  unsatis- 
factory. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  great  deal  of  this  unverifiable 
but  "higher"  information  does  come  through;  and, 
after  identity  has  been  established,  it  is  admissible  and 
interesting.  Spiritualistic  literature  abounds  in  vol- 
umes of  automatic  writing  which  describes  conditions 
on  the  other  side  and  inculcates  moral  and  religious 
teaching.  Stead's  After  Death,  Stainton  Moses'  Spirit 
Teachings,  F.  Heslop's  Speaking  Across  the  Borderline, 
and  Mr.  L.  V.  H.  Witley's  books  may  be  mentioned  as 
examples.  No  doubt  in  each  case  the  recipient  be- 
came satisfied  of  the  sender's  identity,  by  evidential 
tests,  and  then  published  the  other  writings — which 
mostly  fail  to  impress  us,  for  we  do  not  know  the 
details  of  the  identity  tests,  and  we  cannot  verify  the 
statements  about  other-side  conditions.  But  the  fact 
remains  that  the  statements  are  there  in  plenty;  so  the 
objection  about  communications  always  being  trivial, 
besides  being  misplaced — small  personal  details  being 
very  useful  as  identity  evidence — is,  indeed,  not  even 
true. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FALSE    STATEMENTS    AND    THEIR    EXPLANATION  I    AND 


If  all  survival-evidence  were  as  clear  and  consistent 
as  that  which  I  have  obtained  in  my  own  investiga- 
tions, the  thing  would  seem  to  my  mind  not  only  settled 
but  also  quite  simple.  In  my  evidence  the  facts  all 
point  one  way;  they  are  interpretable  on  the  spirit- 
theory,  and  they  contain  no  incident  that  is  incon- 
sistent therewith,  while  they  do  contain  many  incidents 
which  in  my  opinion  are  inconsistent  with  any  other 
reasonable  hypothesis.  Judging  from  my  own  first- 
hand experience,  I  should  have  no  doubt  or  difficulties. 
But  in  studying  other  evidence  it  is  different.  While 
finding  much  that  supports  my  own  view,  I  find  much 
to  puzzle  me.  Apparently  my  friend  Mr.  Wilkin- 
son is  an  extraordinarily  good  medium,  for  he  is  hardly 
ever  wrong.  He  may  not  get  much  at  some  sittings, 
if  he  is  in  poor  form  or  conditions  are  unfavourable, 
but  what  he  gets  is  usually  correct.^  With  most  other 
mediums  there  is  a  good  deal  of  padding,  also  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  "fishing,"  and  sometimes  false  state- 
ments of  an  out-and-out  character  inconsistent  with 
at  least  part  of  the  spiritistic  claim. 

*  He  does  not  give  private  sittings  in  a  general  way,  being  nervous 
about  not  getting  results.  He  is  kind  enough  to  sit  for  me,  practically 
without  remuneration,  because  he  knows  that  I  understand.  I  am 
greatly  indebted  to  him  for  the  unselfish  help  without  which  I  should 
never  have  reached  my  present  conclusions. 

221 


222        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

For  example,  the  Conner  series  of  incidents  in  the 
case  of  Mrs.  Piper.^  Now  I  believe,  with  Mrs.  Sidg- 
wick  and  other  cautious  and  sceptical  investigators, 
that  supernormally-acquired  knowledge  was  often  dis- 
played in  Mrs.  Piper's  speech  or  script,  and  that  it  is 
difficult  to  explain  all  of  this  without  supposing  in 
some  cases  the  agency  of  dead  people.  The  case  of 
George  Pelham,  described  in  Vol.  xiii.  of  Proceedings 
S.P.R.,  is  particularly  impressive;  indeed,  granting 
the  honesty  of  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson  who  superin- 
tended the  investigation  and  wrote  the  report — an  hon- 
esty which  no  one  has  ever  impugned, — the  evidence  in 
this  case  is  almost  coercive. 

But  what  about  the  other  aspect  *?  A  young  Ameri- 
can named  Dean  Bridgman  Conner  went  to  Mexico 
City  in  1894,  was  employed  as  electrician  at  a  theatre, 
became  ill  with  typhoid  fever,  and  in  March,  1895, 
was  reported  by  the  Consul  to  have  died  at  the  Ameri- 
can Hospital  and  to  have  been  buried  in  the  American 
cemetery.  Some  months  afterwards,  however,  the 
young  man's  father  had  a  dream  in  which  his  son  ap- 
peared and  informed  him  that  he  was  alive  and  in  cap- 
tivity, being  held  to  ransom  in  Mexico.  Mrs.  Piper 
was  consulted  by  friends  of  the  Conners,  trance  sittings 
were  held,  and  the  controls — ^by  aid  of  rapport-ob- 
jects belonging  to  D.  B.  Conner — ^purported  to  trace 
his  movements  and  whereabouts.  They  confirmed  the 
father's  dream,  and  stated  that  the  missing  man  was 
in  or  near  Puebla,  in  a  building  which  they  described, 
guarded  by  a  man  whom  they  described  and  named. 
Several  investigators  went  to  Mexico,  one  after  the 
other,  and  it  was  finally  established  by  Mr.  Philpott, 

*  The  Quest  for  Dean  Bridgman  Conner,  by  Anthony  J.  Philpott. 


FALSE  STATEMENTS  223 

who  found  the  nurse  who  was  with  Conner  when  he 
died,  that  the  Consul's  report  was  perfectly  true,  and 
that  the  dream  and  the  trance  "information"  were,  so 
far  as  Conner  was  concerned,  entirely  wrong. 

Now  it  is  not  particularly  surprising  that  ostensible 
spirit  communicators  should  make  mistakes,  for  we 
do  not  suppose  chem  to  have  become  omniscient  by 
the  mere  dropping  of  their  physical  bodies.  They  know 
more  than  we  do,  but  they  do  not  know  everything. 
When  we  ask  them  questions  we  must  not  expect  in- 
fallibility in  the  answers.  But  this  does  not  dispose 
altogether  of  the  Conner  case. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  queer  that  such  definite  and 
persistent  statements  should  be  made,  if  the  controls 
knew  that  they  were  imaginary  and  false;  for  the  said 
controls  might  have  known  that  investigations  would 
be  started  and  the  deception  discovered.  It  seems  more 
probable — bizarre  though  the  idea  is — that  the  con- 
trols, whatever  they  are,  cannot  always  distinguish 
between  objective  truth  and  their  own  imaginations. 
And,  after  all,  the  idea  is  perhaps  not  so  bizarre  as  it 
seems  at  first.  When  we  dream,  we  have  no  test  of 
objective  truth;  all  seems  real  to  us.  If  we  described, 
while  still  asleep,  all  that  we  are  experiencing  in  a 
dream,  a  waking  listener  would  find  many  references 
to  existing  people  and  things,  and  correct  statements 
of  various  sorts,  mixed  with  much  falsity  and  non- 
sense. Now  it  seems  certain  that  whatever  these  con- 
trols are,  there  is  something  sleep-like  in  their  condi- 
tion: the  medium  is  in  a  sleep-like  trance,  and  this, 
plus  the  more  specific  internal  evidence  of  what  is 
said,  suggests  that  the  control  is  more  or  less  in  a  sleep- 
like state,  and,  indeed,  is  inevitably  so.    In  some  such 


224        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

way  as  this  we  can  account  for  the  curious  mixture 
of  sense  and  nonsense,  knowledge  and  ignorance,  that 
is  shown  in  these  trance  phenomena.  The  control,  we 
say,  being  in  a  sleep-like  condition,  is  not  always  able 
to  distinguish  between  what  is  true  (true  on  our  wak- 
ing plane)  and  what  is  due  to  the  dreaming  activity  of 
his  own  or  the  medium's  mind.  The  Conner  case, 
therefore,  with  all  its  mistakes,  does  not  invalidate 
the  true  things  that  constitute  good  evidence  for  sur- 
vival in  other  parts  of  Mrs.  Piper's  experience. 

Another  point,  however,  must  be  mentioned.  In 
Mrs.  Piper's  trances  a  large  number  of  controls  pur- 
ported to  appear  at  different  times.  Of  these  George 
Pelham  gave  by  far  the  best  evidence  of  his  identity. 
Some  others  gave  fair  evidence,  and  some  none  at  all. 
And  some  few  of  the  persons  mentioned  were  obviously 
dream-creations.  For  example,  an  Adam  Bede  was  al- 
luded to  as  a  real  individual  on  the  other  side,  as  well 
as  a  George  Eliot!  Also  Julius  Csesar,  who,  though 
possible,  seems  hardly  probable.  And  the  troublesome 
thing  is  that  George  Pelham  vouches  for  the  reality 
of  the  others.  If  we  admit  that  George  Pelham  has 
proved  his  identity,  how  can  we  reject  Julius  Caesar 
whom  he  introduces?    And  what  about  Adam  Bede? 

This  is  the  question  that  occupied  Mrs.  Sidgwick 
in  her  laborious  inquiry  in  Vol.  xxviii..  Proceedings  of 
the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  Her  final  opinion 
is  that  the  controls  stand  or  fall  together,  and  that 
George  Pelham  is  a  subliminal  fraction  of  Mrs.  Piper, 
like  all  the  others.  At  the  same  time  Mrs.  Sidgwick 
affirms  without  hesitation  that  supernormally-acquired 
knowledge  was  displayed  in  Mrs.  Piper's  trances,  and 
that  some  of  it  justifies  the  hypothesis  of  communica- 


FALSE  STATEMENTS  225 

tion  from  the  dead.  She  therefore  distinguishes  care- 
fully between  the  control — the  subliminal  fraction 
which  is  the  intelligence  proximately  operative — and 
the  communicator^  who  may  be  a  person  in  the  spiritual 
world,  a  person  who  can  somehow  send  his  message 
through  the  control.  In  cases  like  Pelham's,  a  real 
G.  P.  was  there  in  the  background,  and  was  exception- 
ally successful  in  getting  his  messages  through.  In  the 
Conner  case,  there  was  no  spirit  communicator  there 
at  all;  the  subliminal  fractions  of  Mrs.  Piper's  dream- 
self  were  having  it  all  their  own  way. 

Something  like  this  is  probably  true.  I  believe  that 
many  trance  controls,  not  only  some  of  Mrs.  Piper's, 
may  be  dream-creations  of  this  sort.  But  I  do  not 
feel  able  to  say  that  all  controls  are  such.  In  specially 
good  evidential  cases,  as  sometimes  with  G.  P.,  the 
identity-evidence  flows  so  freely,  and  the  give-and-take 
with  the  sitter  is  so  quick,  that  it  is  difficult  to  visualise 
the  process  as  telepathy  through  a  personation.  It 
seems  much  more  like  direct  control  by  the  communi- 
cator himself.  Perhaps  we  can  accept  this  and  at  the 
same  time  get  over  the  Julius  Csesar  and  Adam  Bede 
difficulty  by  supposing  these  latter  personations  to  be 
dreams  of  the  real  G.  P.  control,  rather  than  of  Mrs. 
Piper's  subliminal.  But  on  this  question  of  the  real 
nature  of  controls  I  feel  that  we  do  not  yet  know 
enough  to  dogmatise;  perhaps  not  even  enough  to  be- 
gin distinguishing — except  for  convenience  of  descrip- 
tion— between  control  and  communicator.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  detail,  and  is  interesting  and  no  doubt  psycho- 
logically important,  but  it  does  not  affect  the  main 
fact  that  survival-evidence  comes. 

From  the  psychical  research  point  of  view  it  does 


226        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

not  much  matter  whether  it  comes  from  the  communi- 
cator at  first  hand  or  whether  it  comes  from  him  via  a 
mouthpiece  or  channel  which  calls  itself  and  perhaps 
believes  itself  to  be  a  spirit.  The  main  thing  is  that 
the  evidence  comes.  The  psychological  process  can 
be  analysed  and  determined  in  due  course.  But  I 
mention  the  problem  in  order  that  the  difficulties  may 
be  seen.  I  have  no  wish  to  make  the  case  out  to  be 
better  than  it  is.  There  are  puzzling  problems  still 
to  be  solved,  particularly  in  regard  to  trance  medium- 
ship.  But  while  in  fairness  insisting  on  the  recognition 
of  these  difficulties,  I  must  also  in  fairness  repeat  and 
emphasise  the  fact  that  in  my  experience  these  diffi- 
culties have  hardly  occurred  at  all.  For  in  my  sittings 
with  trance-mediums  I  have  never  had  any  such  mys- 
tifications as  the  Conner  case,  and  in  my  sittings  with 
Mr.  Wilkinson,  which  have  given  me  my  best  evidence, 
there  was  not  the  complication  of  the  trance. 

It  may,  however,  be  suitable  here  to  discuss  briefly 
the  nature  of  the  "forms"  which  this  medium  sees. 
He  is  not  in  trance — is,  indeed,  in  a  normal  or  at  most 
slightly  "absent"  state;  yet  there  is  something  un- 
usual and  abnormal  in  the  phenomena,  for  the  figures 
are  invisible  to  ordinary  sight.    What,  then,  are  they? 

I  do  not  know.  I  feel  that  I  can  offer  only  the  most 
provisional  guesses ;  but  these,  for  what  they  are  worth, 
I  will  state. 

The  forms,  plus  the  clairaudience,  convey  informa- 
tion, as  I  believe,  from  certain  disembodied  people. 
But  I  do  not  think  that  what  Wilkinson  sees  and  hears 
is  an  affair  of  matter  in  any  ordinary  sense  of  the  word. 
When  he  "hears"  a  name,  I  do  not  think  he  hears 
it  with  his  ears,  as  a  result  of  air- waves.     If  he  did, 


MR.  WILKINSON'S  "FORMS"  227 

I  think  I  should  hear  it,  too,  however  low  a  whisper 
it  might  be,  for  I  have  exceptionally  acute  hearing. 
I  have  reason  to  believe,  from  various  indications, 
that  in  ordinary  physical  auditory  sensitiveness  the 
medium's  nerves  are  no  more  delicate  than  my  own. 
The  clairaudience  is  psychical;  an  "inner"  hearing. 

Similarly  with  the  seeing.  Wilkinson  almost  cer- 
tainly does  not  see  the  forms  with  his  physical  eyes, 
for  he  often  describes  details  which  he  could  not  see 
on  an  ordinary  incarnate  person  at  the  apparent  dis- 
tance. The  perception  is  psychic,  inner,  and  is  trans- 
lated only  by  habit  into  the  visual  form.  Such  experi- 
ence, in  varying  forms  and  degrees,  is  not  confined  to 
professional  mediums.  In  fact,  it  is  fairly  common. 
For  instance,  Mr.  Edward  Carpenter  tells  of  something 
of  the  sort  in  connexion  with  his  mother.  "For  months, 
even  years,  after  her  death,  I  seemed  to  feel  her,  even 
see  her,  close  to  me,  always  figuring  as  a  semi-luminous 
presence,  very  real,  but  faint  in  outline,  larger  than 
mortal."  ^  And,  of  course,  apparitions,  even  of  evi- 
dential order,  are  fairly  numerous,  as  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research  has  shown  by  its  laborious  census. 
The  difference  is  that  while  Mr.  Carpenter  saw  only 
his  mother,  and  other  percipients  similarly  saw  people 
with  whom  they  had  some  link  of  affection,  Mr.  Wil- 
kinson's perceptivity  is  so  much  more  delicate  and 
keen  that  he  sees  people  unknown  to  him,  and  even 
people  unknown  to  the  sitter.  By  making  his  mind 
quiet,  hushing  his  senses,  orientating  himself  the  other 
way,  so  to  speak,  he  perceives  in  the  other  world;  and 
perceives  very  truly,  though  only  in  gleams  or  flashes. 

It  has  often  been  remarked,  with  regard  to  appari- 

^  My  Days  and  Dreams,  p.  io6. 


228        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

tions,  that  the  ghost  behaves  in  an  aimless  sort  of  way, 
standing  about  or  moving  without  apparent  purpose; 
and  this  has  been  tentatively  explained  by  the  suppo- 
sition that  the  ghost  is  not  "all  there" — that  it  is, 
perhaps,  a  partial  manifestation  of  the  person  it  repre- 
sents, his  main  portion  being  elsewhere,  as  our  main 
mental  portion  is  elsewhere  or  in  abeyance  when  we 
are  asleep.  In  fact,  apparitions  have  been  called  "the 
dreams  of  the  dead,"  and  there  is  almost  certainly 
some  sort  of  truth  in  it.  In  a  case  known  to  me,  a  girl 
was  frightened  into  brain  fever  by  violent  rappings 
lasting  nearly  all  night,  and  it  turned  out  that  her 
brother  had  been  killed,  a  few  minutes  before  the  rap- 
pings began.  (It  was  before  the  war,  and  the  young 
man  was  not  in  any  specially  dangerous  employment, 
so  there  was  no  anxiety  or  expectation.)  If  we  at- 
tribute the  knockings  to  the  activity  of  the  brother's 
spirit,  it  seems  clear  that  his  full  consciousness  was 
not  there,  for  he  would  not  have  wished  to  terrify  his 
sister  thus.  The  probable  explanation  is  that  he  did 
not  know  what  effects  he  was  producing  in  the  material 
world.  His  mind  would  naturally  turn  to  his  favour- 
ite sister,  and  he  would  try  to  speak  to  her  or  to  at- 
tract her  attention;  but,  finding  himself  suddenly  in 
a  new  state,  and  being  upset  and  bewildered,  he  did 
not  fully  know  what  he  was  doing. 

The  people  whose  forms  Mr.  Wilkinson  sees  have 
mostly  been  gone  some  time  and  have  become  accus- 
tomed to  their  new  state.  The  forms  consequently 
do  not  behave  in  any  erratic  or  distressing  manner, 
but  they  do  give  an  impression  of  being  only  a  partial 
manifestation  of  the  spirit's  full  consciousness.  Some- 
times they  are  described  as  motionless  images,  remain- 


MR.  WILKINSON'S    TORMS  "  229 

ing  for  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour  and  then  fading 
gradually  away;  as  if  the  spirit  had  manufactured  a 
form  out  of  something  half-way  between  •  spirit  and 
matter,  for  purposes  of  identification.  There  is  a  curi- 
ous resemblance  between  the  general  conception  which 
these  particular  phenomena  suggest  to  me,  and  the 
conceptions  of  the  early  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  de- 
scribed the  heroes  in  the  Place  of  Shades  as  having  a 
rather  dull  and  aimless  time  of  it ;  but  the  real  hero — 
the  man  himself — is  in  bliss  elsewhere.  It  would  al- 
most seem  that  the  philosophers  and  poets  had  had 
visions  somewhat  like  modern  apparitions  and  like  Mr. 
Wilkinson's  forms,  which  led  them  to  this  idea  of  dim 
and  half -conscious  shadows — the  "astral"  shapes  of 
the  Theosophists.^  But  we  must  not  digress  further. 
My  point  is  that  the  forms  are  not  the  spirits  them- 
selves, but  are  partial  manifestations  or  representations. 
They  have  the  real  spirit  behind  them,  as  the  mario- 
nette has  its  operating  but  invisible  intelligence  in  the 
man  who  pulls  the  strings ;  but  they  cannot  convey  all 
that  is  desired,  because  of  the  limitations  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  discamate  mind  is  in  a  clearer  and  much 
freer  and  happier  state ;  and  to  convey  ideas  to  the  me- 
dium necessitates  a  coming  down,  an  approach  to  our 
clogged  material  condition,  and  a  building  up  of  forms 
out  of  something  which  is  sufficiently  near  being  mat- 
ter for  the  still  enmattered  medium's  perception  to 
see. 

A  word  or  two  as  to  the  naturalness  of  psychical 
phenomena.    A  friend  of  mine,  who  had  never  sat  with 

*  Plotinus  speaks  of  the  shade  of  Herakles  being  in  Hades  while 
the  true  Herakles  is  with  the  gods,  and  Ovid  says  that  the  flesh  is 
buried,  the  shade  flits  round  the  tomb,  the  manes  goes  to  the  under- 
world, and  the  spirit  "seeks  the  stars." 


230        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

a  medium,  said  to  me  with  evident  surprise,  after  read- 
ing a  manuscript  account  of  one  of  my  sittings,  that 
the  medium  seemed  "quite  a  homely  sort."  I  do  not 
know  what  he  expected,  but  I  rather  think  that  many 
people  have  more  or  less  mistaken  notions  on  this  head. 
They  think  of  the  process  and  the  person  as  necessarily 
weird  and  alarming  and  nerve-shaking.  Darkness, 
blue  lights,  sheeted  ghosts,  perhaps  even  the  clanking 
chains  of  the  orthodox  Christmas  story,  fill  their  im- 
agination. Hamlet's  father  occurs  to  them,  and  they 
feel  that  any  commerce  with  the  other  side  ought 
to  harrow  up  their  souls,  freeze  their  young  blood,  etc. 
Perhaps  they  think  of  Dante  also;  and  certainly  any 
communications  from  Dante's  Paolo  and  Francesca — 
not  to  mention  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  Judas,  who  were 
in  the  very  lowest  hell — would  be  depressing  enough. 
But  if  they  refrain  from  having  sittings  because  they 
expect  something  of  this  sort,  it  is  a  poor  sort  of  testi- 
monial to  the  virtues  of  their  translated  relatives  and 
friends.  Evidently  these  latter  are  thought  to  be  hav- 
ing a  very  purgatorial  time  of  it. 

But  probably  this  is  not  quite  the  true  reason.  Many 
people  avoid  having  sittings  because  the  secularity  of 
the  proceedings  is  distasteful,  and  this  is  understand- 
able and  excusable,  as  I  have  already  said;  though  it 
is  perhaps  regrettable  and  to  be  somewhat  resisted, 
being  due  mostly  to  prejudice.  Others,  perhaps,  have  a 
natural  shrinking  from  having  intimate  family  matters 
— names  of  loved  relatives  and  the  like — handled  by  a 
stranger.  But  probably  most  people  who,  while  quite 
inexperienced,  nevertheless  elect  to  remain  so,  feeling 
an  unexplained  aversion,  are  influenced  by  their  imagi- 
native fears.    These  may  be  vague,  but  they  are  real. 


C-^  pi^" 


MR.  WILKINSON'S  "FORMS"         231 

Mediums  are  thought  of  as  weird  and  pallid  ladies — 
as  I  recently  saw  the  species  seriously  described — and 
dramatic  tales  of  obsessions  and  haunts  rise  dimly  be- 
fore the  mind. 

Theosophy  has  been  a  contributory  cause  to  this  mis- 
taken frame  of  mind.  Particularly  in  its  early  days 
it  was  perceived  by  its  High  Priestess,  Madame  Bla-  ^  J/v^/c^t 
vatsky,  that  sittings  with  mediums  must  be  discour- 
aged, lest  the  authority  of  the  spirits  should  compete 
with  her  own.  A  later  priestess  of  a  different  cult — 
Mrs.  Eddy — similarly  forbade  preaching  in  her  church, 
perceiving  that  heterodoxy  would  arise.  Madame  Bla- 
vatsky  frightened  her  docile  flock  away  from  seance 
rooms  in  order  that  they  might  continue  to  sit  at  her 
own  feet.  That  is  quite  understandable.  So  is  the 
Roman  Catholic  opposition,  for  if  we  think  we  get  first- 
hand information  from  the  other  side,  we  do  not  go  to 
the  priest  for  his  secondhand  teaching.  Quite  obvi- 
ously, religions  of  centralised  authority  will  fight  spir- 
itualism with  all  their  might,  for  they  are  as  antipa- 
thetic to  it  as  despotism  is  to  democracy.  And  their 
method  is  usually  terroristic.  It  employs  "f rightful- 
ness," as  despots  do.  Psychical  research  is  "danger- 
ous." Terrible  things  are  told  of;  more  terrible  things 
still  are  hinted  at. 

These  dangers  may  exist.  I  do  not  know  every- 
thing, and  nothing  but  omniscience  can  make  universal 
denials.  But  I  have  not  encountered  any  evidence  of 
their  existence.  I  have  investigated  more  or  less  for 
over  ten  years,  and  intimate  friends  of  mine  have  in- 
vestigated for  periods  of  ten  to  forty  years.  Nothing 
in  their  or  my  experience  has  occurred  to  scare  them 
or  me  from  the  research.     Sittings  with  mediums  for 


232        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

phenomena  of  "psychological"  order — i.e.  not  physical 
phenomena  such  as  movement  of  objects  without  con- 
tact and  materialisation — are  quite  ordinary  and  pro- 
saic affairs,  with  nothing  alarming  about  them.  All  is 
quite  natural.  An  imaginative  and  impulsive  "ration- 
alist" describes  a  sitting  as  "weird,"  though  it  was  an 
amateur  affair,  and,  so  far  as  the  narrative  indicates, 
had  nothing  weird  about  it.^  Certainly  no  one,  how- 
ever nervous,  need  fear  the  sort  of  sittings  I  myself 
have  had. 

With  Wilkinson  here,  a  stranger  coming  in  would 
find  one  man  sitting  in  an  arm-chair  chatting  apparently 
in  a  quiet,  ordinary  way,  with  occasional  pauses;  and 
another  man  writing,  in  an  equally  quiet  and  ordinary 
way.  The  hypothetical  stranger  might  easily  mistake 
the  medium  for  a  business  man  dictating  letters,  and 
myself  for  a  secretary  taking  them  down  in  shorthand. 
Listening  to  the  matter  of  the  discourse,  he  would,  of 
course,  find  that  the  speaker  was  describing  things  not 
normally  visible  to  other  folk,  but  the  experience  is  so 
ordinary  to  him  that  his  manner  is  perfectly  calm. 
He  tells  me  that  he  frequently  sees  spirit  forms,  which 
are  quite  lifelike  and  solid-seeming,  in  his  own  home, 
and  very  often  they  talk  to  him,  though  by  impression 
or  telepathy  rather  than  by  ear-heard  speech.  One 
day,  quite  unexpectedly,  his  deceased  mother  appeared, 
along  with  another  woman  who  was  unknown  and  who 
seemed  rather  dishevelled  and  unhappy.  The  two 
seemed  so  real  that  Wilkinson  momentarily  almost  for- 
got that  his  mother  was  dead,  and  said,  "Why,  mother, 
whoever  have  you  got  with  you*?"     To  which  she  re- 

^  Mr.  Joseph  McCabe,  in  the  Literary  Guide  and  Rationalist  Revieiv, 
March,  19x6. 


MR.  WILKINSON'S  ^TORMS"  233 

plied:  "Oh!  it's  somebody  I'm  just  looking  after  a 
bit."     All  quite  natural  and  homely. 

And  it  is  pretty  much  the  same  with  trance  mediums. 
There  is  usually  nothing  distressing  about  the  transi- 
tion from  waking  to  trance  and  back  again,  and  there 
is  nothing  uncanny  in  the  trance  itself.  In  Mr.  Alfred 
Vout  Peters  this  is  particularly  noticeable,  the  trance 
coming  on  easily  and  almost  instantaneously,  and  the 
Moonstone  control — said  to  be  a  Brahmin  who  died 
four  hundred  years  ago — being  a  quite  likeable  per- 
sonality, on  any  theory. 

I  once  had  a  sitting  with  a  London  lady  which  struck 
me  at  the  time  as  being  rather  amusingly  dramatic,  but 
even  that  was  not  uncanny.  It  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  became  dark  before  the  end,  and  I  could  not 
light  up  lest  the  glare  should  jar  the  medium,  so  she 
went  on  with  her  large  magnetic  passes,  and  the  healer 
control — a  supposed  Syrian  chief,  a  Druse — went  on 
talking,  sometimes  in  unintelligible  sounds,  purporting 
to  be  an  Eastern  language,  to  the  light  of  a  street-lamp 
which  shone  in  through  the  window.  But  it  was  not 
weird.  The  control  was  jolly  and  friendly,  and  the 
medium  herself  was  an  excellent  soul. 

So,  judging  from  my  own  experience,  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  least  alarming  or  upsetting  in  these  forms 
of  mediumship.  The  phenomena  are  unusual  in  the 
sense  that  few  people  manifest  them;  but  after  our 
first  introduction  to  them  they  soon  fall  into  place  as 
part  of  the  natural  phenomena  of  experience. 

Let  it  be  understood,  however,  that  I  do  not  urge 
or  even  encourage  anyone  to  seek  this  kind  of  experi- 
ence. Psychical  research  requires  training,  and,  in- 
deed, special  aptitude.    It  takes  time,  e.g.,  to  learn  how 


234        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

to  be  sympathetic  and  friendly,  while  giving  nothing 
away  and  remaining  alert  and  critical.  And  a  medium 
requires  proper  treatment,  for  he  is  an  instrument  more 
complex  and  more  delicate  than  any  inanimate  one. 
The  investigation  is  therefore  not  suited  to  everyone. 


CHAPTER  IX 

HOME    MEDIUMSHIP 

No  investigator  will  deny  that  paid  mediumship  has  its 
disadvantages.  Apart  from  the  question  of  fraud — 
which,  as  I  have  said,  is  easily  eliminated  in  the  dis- 
cussed class  of  phenomena — there  is  a  certain  natural 
shrinking,  particularly  at  first,  from  the  idea  of  get- 
ting into  communication  with  friends  on  the  other  side 
through  a  stranger  to  whom  we  pay  a  fee.  Moreover, 
most  mediums  being,  as  it  were,  habituated  to  the  ex- 
periences which  to  others  are  exceptional,  are  apt  to 
take  things  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  to  speak  of  the 
other  side  with  an  ease  which  rather  shocks  those  of 
us  who  had  an  orthodox  religious  upbringing.  This 
is  our  misfortune,  not  our  fault — or  the  medium's.  Our 
early  notions  were  wrong.  There  is  no  need  to  adopt 
an  air  of  solemn  awe  or  to  get  up  a  state  of  Victorian 
piety  when  communicating  or  trying  to  communicate 
with  those  who  have  gone  before.  They  are  human 
beings  still,  who  love  us  and  wish  to  be  loved  by  us; 
they  are  not  stern  archangels  before  whom  we  must 
act  the  trembling  worm.  Seriousness,  entire  earnest- 
ness of  purpose,  is,  of  course,  strongly  and  unqualifiedly 
desirable;  also  affection  directed  towards  the  friend  in 
question.  This  is  so,  indeed,  when  we  communicate 
with  a  friend  still  in  the  body.  And  when  he  has 
dropped  this  latter,  our  attitude  towards  him  does  not 
call  for  any  essential  readjustment.    Consequently,  we 

235 


236        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

need  feel  no  repugnance  to  the  genial  and,  so  to 
speak,  secular  manner  of  a  medium,  if  such  his  or  her 
manner  happen  to  be.  Some,  of  course,  have  a  religious 
manner.  No  doubt  it  depends  a  good  deal  on  their 
temperament  and  early  education  and  training. 

And  the  more  general  objections  to  paid  mediumship, 
though  they  are  natural  enough,  are  nevertheless 
equally  without  reasonable  grounds.  In  almost  every 
department  of  life  we  depend  on  specialists  for  the 
supply  of  our  needs,  and  practically  all  are  paid  for 
their  services.  Even  the  clergyman  is  paid — sometimes 
very  well  paid — and  the  medium's  function  is  certainly 
no  more  sacred  than  his.  No  one  who  subscribes  to 
church  or  chapel  funds  can  have  any  logical  objection 
to  paying  a  medium,  even  if  we  consider  mediumship 
in  its  most  emotional  aspect  as  putting  us  once  more 
in  close  touch  with  some  loved  one;  while,  on  the  in- 
tellectual or  investigation  side,  the  payment  of  a  me- 
dium for  the  use  of  his  psychical  gifts  is  only  on  a  par 
with  paying  a  messenger  for  the  use  of  his  muscles  in 
bringing  a  note  from  a  living  friend  round  the  corner. 

But,  while  it  is  thus  possible  to  show  the  irration- 
ality of  such  objections,  it  is  not  possible  altogether 
to  dispel  the  feelings  of  repugnance  which  many  people 
have.  Consequently,  some  alternative  method  is  de- 
'sirable.  Some  such  method  might  be  achieved,  and 
an  eminently  satisfactory  one,  if  paid  mediumship 
could  somehow  be  put  on  a  more  systematic  and  more 
dignified  footing.  At  present  one  gets  a  medium's  ad- 
dress, goes,  with  or  without  appointment,  and  may 
never  go  again;  the  conditions  are  good  from  the  sit- 
ter's "evidential"  point  of  view,  but  the  system — or 
lack  of  system — ^must  be  bad  for  the  medium.    What- 


HOME  MEDIUMSHIP  237 

ever  the  exact  essentials  of  the  medium's  constitution 
may  be,  it  is  certain  that  that  constitution  is  of  an  ex- 
ceedingly sensitive  kind;  and  it  is  indeed  surprising 
that  such  good  results  are  obtainable  at  all  from  these 
delicately-organised  people  who  are  subjected  to  the 
searching  scrutiny  of  sceptical  and  often  hostile  stran- 
gers— with  the  law  looming  in  the  background,  threat- 
ening prosecution  of  rogue  and  vagrant.  The  whole 
thing  ought  to  be  better  managed  than  that. 

There  ought  to  be  some  central  institution — perhaps 
affiliated  with  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  with  the  Spiritualist  Alliance  and, 
perhaps,  the  Spiritualists'  National  Union,  on  the 
other;  an  institution  under  the  control  of  some  qualified 
man  of  the  Dr.  Richard  Hodgson  type,  with  a  repre- 
sentative committee  behind  him.  Mediums  should  be 
tested  and  then  engaged  in  some  systematic  and  more 
or  less  permanent  way,  so  that  their  payment  would  be 
even  and  reliable,  and  depending  on  their  average  level 
of  results;  they  would  thus  be  less  anxious  in  each  in- 
dividual case,  and  would  consequently  do  better.  Sit- 
ters could  be  introduced  without  names,  and  a  full 
shorthand  report  made  of  everything  said  by  both  me- 
dium and  sitter,  the  latter  annotating  one  copy  and  for- 
warding it  to  the  secretary  later — or,  better,  doing  it 
on  the  spot — so  that  the  amount  of  success  could  be 
estimated.  When  sitters  are  not  forthcoming,  the  me- 
dium's time  can  be  given  either  to  experiments  devised 
by  those  in  control,  introducing  "artificial"  sitters,  or 
to  some  kind  of  meditational  exercises  or  development, 
or  to  rest  and  recreation. 

How  far  this  is  possible  I  do  not  know,  but  it  is 


238        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

desirable.     Perhaps  the  Stead  Bureau  might  lead  the 
way  to  some  such  scheme.^ 

This  is  one  way  of  mitigating  the  paid-medium  dif- 
ficulty. The  other  is  the  development  of  the  seeker's 
own  psychic  powers,  or  of  those  of  someone  in  his  sur- 
roundings. Here  we  come  upon  many  difficulties. 
Many  of  us  seem  to  be  almost  or  quite  destitute  of 
any  such  powers,  even  in  the  most  latent  or  rudimen- 
tary state.  I  myself  have  tried  persistently  for  auto- 
matic writing,  both  with  planchette  and  a  free  pen- 
cil, without  the  least  sign  of  success.  I  have  worked 
planchette  freely  enough  with  psychical  friends,  get- 
ting results  which  sometimes  surprised  our  normal  con- 
sciousnesses very  much,  but  which  were  not  provably 
due  to  anything  outside  our  own  "subliminals" ;  but 
I  think  the  power  was  all  in  my  friend,  and  my  own 
part  was  only  that  of  a  catalytic  agent,  perhaps  efficient 
by  removing  the  fear  that  he  was  "doing  it  himself." 
It  is  common  enough  for  planchettists  to  feel  that  the 
board  is  moving  of  its  own  volition,  pulling  the  hands 
with  it ;  and  probably  in  such  cases  perseverance  would 
lead  to  supernormal  results,  first  of  telepathic  kind — 
after  preludes  of  cryptomnesic  phenomena — then  per- 
haps of  spiritistic ;  for  there  seems  reason  to  believe  that 
communications  from  the  other  side  come  through  the 
medium's  subliminal  mental  levels,  which  adjoin  the 
spiritual  world.     Automatic  writing,  in  the  first  in- 

*This  was  written  before  the  recent  founding  of  the  College  of 
Psychic  Science  by  Mr.  J.  Hewat  McKenzie,  and  I  am  uncertain  as 
to  how  far  my  foreshadowings  apply  to  it.  In  what  I  say  about  the 
S.P.R.,  I  am  expressing  my  own  opinion  only,  and  that  in  tentative 
fashion ;  for  I  am  aware  that  any  co-operation  of  the  S.P.R.  with 
bodies  representing  something  more  than  investigation  would  be  a 
rather  delicate  and  difficult  matter. 


HOME  MEDIUMSHIP  239 

stance  with  planchette  and  a  collaborator,  is  therefore 
a  good  way  of  beginning  home  experimentation. 

Another  method  is  for  two  or  more  people  to  sit  with 
their  hands  on  a  small  wooden  table  which  will  rock 
or  tilt  under  slight  pressure.  A  large  proportion  of 
people  seem  able  to  get,  in  this  way,  movements  which 
are  not  the  result  of  conscious  volition ;  and  intelligible 
messages  may  be  spelt  out  by  a  tilt  at  the  right  letter, 
the  alphabet  being  repeated  and  the  indicated  letter 
written  down  by  the  note-taker.  It  is  a  slow  and  cum- 
brous process,  but  occasionally  good  results  may  be  ob- 
tained. So  long  as  the  messages  contain  nothing  that 
is  not  known  to  those  touching  the  table,  there  is,  of 
course,  no  strong  evidence  that  the  operating  intelli- 
gence is  anything  external  to  them.  The  interest  be- 
gins when  the  matter  given  goes  beyond  that  knowl- 
edge. Allowance  has  to  be  made  'for  possible  sublimi- 
nal knowledge — things  we  have  known,  or  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  have  known,  and  "forgotten" — but,  even  with 
a  liberal  allowance  on  this  head,  there  is  sometimes 
a  residuum  which  seems  to  call  for  the  hypothesis  of 
some  external  mind. 

Other  development-methods  there  are,  for  clairvoy- 
ance, clairaudience,  physical  phenomena,  etc.,  but  these 
need  not  be  more  than  mentioned  here.  The  best 
method  will  depend  on  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  person 
aiming  at  development;  on  the  direction  in  which  the 
incipient  phenomena  seem  to  point.  And  it  need  hardly 
be  said  that  development  of  psychic  faculty  is  probably 
not  a  wise  thing  for  everybody.  Many  people  are  bet- 
ter occupied  in  other  ways.  Good  health  is  desirable ; 
a  cool  and  critical  judgment  is  essential.  Each  must 
decide  for  himself  or  herself.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 


240        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

think  the  dangers  have  been  greatly  exaggerated  by 
many  writers,  chiefly  Theosophists  or  Roman  Catholics, 
who  think  that  communicators  are  demons,  or  astral 
shells,  or  earthbound  spirits,  or  what  not.  Mr.  Myers 
knew  about  fifty  automatic  writers,  and  in  his  opinion 
the  practice  was  harmful  in  three  cases  only;  and  in 
these  cases  only  because  the  writers  became  vain  of  their 
power,  and  did  not  exercise  sufficient  judgment.  Very 
probably  the  three  in  question  would  have  pushed  any 
sort  of  activity,  and  not  only  psychical  development, 
to  harmful  excess.  People  cannot  be  protected  against 
themselves.  But  the  fact  seems  to  be  that  there  is  little 
or  no  danger  in  careful  development  to  an  ordinarily 
well-balanced  and  healthy  person. 

However,  the  chief  reason  for  hesitating  to  advise 
on  the  matter  in  any  particular  case  is  the  smallness 
of  our  knowledge  of  the  seeker's  personality,  arid,  in- 
deed, the  smallness  of  our  general  knowledge  of  a  sub- 
ject which  is  only  now  for  the  first  time  being  scientifi- 
cally attacked.  In  such  circumstances  it  is  natural  to 
be  cautious.  There  is  always  danger  in  pioneer  work. 
But  I  have  never  known  of  a  case  where  psychical  de- 
velopment has  resulted  in  serious  harm.  I  know  many 
cases  in  which  it  has  been  productive  of  good,  both  to 
the  person  chiefly  concerned  and  to  others. 

Here  it  may  be  remarked  that  in  automatic  writing, 
as  to  a  perhaps  less  extent  in  other  forms  of  psychical 
activity,  there  is  often  misleading  information  or  ad- 
vice, particularly  at  the  beginning.  This  seems  gen- 
erally due,  wholly  or  in  part,  to  the  interfering  sublimi- 
nal or  dream-self  of  the  automatist.  In  one  case  of  a 
lady  well  known  to  me,  the  automatic  script  foretold 
her  death  within  a  few  months,  and  persisted  in  the  as- 


HOME  MEDIUMSHIP  241 

sertion,  causing  a  good  deal  of  very  natural  perturba- 
tion. But  the  lady  is  still  alive  and  well,  after  the 
sombre  predictions  of  five  years  ago ;  and  she  has  wisely 
dropped  automatic  writing.  In  another  case  known  to 
me  the  automatist — a  man  in  business,  far  from  ascetic, 
and  very  secular  in  his  ways — after  being  convinced 
by  evidential  details  of  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  com- 
municator, was  advised  to  wind  up  his  affairs  and  leave 
the  city  (Mexico)  because  an  earthquake  was  going  to 
destroy  it  on  account  of  its  exceeding  wickedness.  He 
obeyed,  and  went  to  Canada;  the  earthquake  did  not 
come,  but  Revolution  did — though  not  until  a  year  or 
so  after  he  left — and  the  advice  may  have  been  good 
in  spite  of  its  literal  untruthfulness.  And  I  am  sure 
that  this  automatist  benefited  morally  and  spiritually 
from  the  messages  in  his  script.  He  has  dropped  alco- 
hol, tobacco,  and  other  forms  of  indulgence,  and  is 
again  a  churchgoer. 

And  even  in  the  case  of  the  just-mentioned  lady 
who  went  through  such  a  trying  time,  there  may  have 
been  good  in  the  experience,  which  undoubtedly  exer- 
cised and  braced  her  courage  and  general  fibre.  In 
many  such  cases  I  think  there  may  be  some  deep  good 
purpose  behind  the  surface  falsity.  But  I  would  not 
take  the  responsibility  of  advising  any  automatist  to  risk 
it.  I  should  say :  "Use  your  judgment ;  do  not  let  it  be 
overruled  by  any  communicator  in  matters  of  great  mo- 
ment." If  an  ordinary  incarnate  man  introduced  him- 
self to  us  and  was  prolific  of  advice,  we  should  rightly 
decline  to  be  guided  by  him  until  we  knew  more  about 
him.  And  a  similar  discretion  should  be  exercised  with 
regard  to  strangers  on  the  other  side — ^much  more  so 
with  regard  to  subliminal  dream-personalities. 


CHAPTER  X 

TELEPATHY    AND    SURVIVAL 

Confronted  with  prima  facie  evidence  for  survival, 
such  as  an  apparition  of  a  person  who,  though  not 
known  to  be  ill  or  in  danger,  did,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
die  at  or  about  the  time  of  the  experience,  it  is  fashion- 
able to  say  that  if  it  was  not  a  chance  coincidence  it 
was  probably  "telepathy."  And,  unlike  many  fashion- 
able things,  the  suggestion  is  sensible.  Such  incidents, 
when  their  veridical  (truth-telling)  quality  is  not  due 
to  chance,  are  certainly  due  to  telepathy.  So  are  many 
mediumistic  communications.  I  have  never  met  an 
investigator  of  any  experience  who  has  not  come  across 
mediumistic  phenomena  which  require  some  further  ex- 
planation than  the  medium's  normal  knowledge. 
Therefore  telepathy  is  rightly  invoked. 

But  what  do  we  mean  by  the  word?  Those  who 
wish  to  avoid  "spirits"  evidently  mean  telepathy  from 
incarnate  minds — ordinary  living  people.  This  is  what 
the  "rationalists"  mean  by  it.  Mr.  Joseph  McCabe, 
departing  from  the  orthodox  unbelief  of  his  German 
master.  Professor  Haeckel,  and  his  co-"rationalist,"  Sir 
E.  R.  Lankester,^  makes  the  remarkable  admission 
(no  doubt  perceiving  that  he  is  between  the  devil  of 
telepathy  and  the  deep  sea  of  spirits,  and  preferring 
the  former)  that  he  considers  the  evidence  for  telepathy 

*  "Modern  biologists  (I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  affirm)  do  not  accept 
the  hypothesis  of  'telepathy.'  " — The  Kingdom  of  Man,  p.  65. 

242 


TELEPATHY  AND  SURVIVAL         243 

"satisfactory."  {"Literary  Guide  and  Rationalist  Re- 
view" March,  1916.)  He  means  thought-transfer- 
ence by  unknown  means  between  incarnate  persons. 
But  he  ought  to  have  said  so.  What  he  does  say  leaves 
him  open  to  the  greatest  suspicion  of  harbouring  spir- 
itistic views,  for  telepathy  may  be  thought-transference 
from  the  dead.  It  is  not  an  alternative  theory  to 
spiritualism.  The  word  is  used  in  that  sense  only  by 
people  who  use  words  loosely.  Let  us  try  to  clear  up 
this  point. 

The  coiner  of  a  word  has  a  right  to  define  it.  Hux- 
ley coined  and  defined  "Agnosticism" ;  F.  W.  H.  Myers 
coined  and  defined  "Telepathy."  And  this  is  what  he 
meant  by  it:  "the  communication  of  impressions  of 
any  kind  from  one  mind  to  another,  independently  of 
the  recognised  channels  of  sense"  {Human  Personality^ 
vol.  i.,  p.  xxii.).  Observe,  it  is  "from  one  mind  to 
another" ;  the  definition  specifies  nothing  about  the  con- 
dition of  the  minds,  incarnate  or  discarnate.  They  may 
be  either,  or  there  may  be  one  in  each  of  the  two  con- 
ditions. Say  to  a  spiritualist  that  his  messages  from 
soi-disant  spirits  are  due  to  telepathy,  and  he  may  re- 
ply with  equanimity:  "Precisely;  telepathy  from  the 
so-called  dead  to  the  living."  And  it  is  now  admitted 
by  even  so  cautious  an  investigator  as  Mrs.  Sidgwick 
that  a  supposition  of  this  kind  is  required  to  explain 
some  of  the  evidence.  Mrs.  Sidgwick  asserts  that 
communication  from  the  dead  is  a  justified  hypothesis; 
calling  it  "telepathy"  gives  it  the  respectability  asso- 
ciated with  the  Greek-derived  coinage  of  a  scholar, 
and  may  therefore  render  the  idea  rather  more  accept- 
able to  the  sceptic,  but  it  definitely  concedes  the  .main 


244        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

claim  of  the  spiritualist,  and  we  may  as  well  admit  it 
frankly. 

Having  seen  that  the  word  "telepathy"  does  not 
mean  anything  that  negates  the  spiritualistic  theory, 
we  may  turn  back  to  consider  the  idea  which  it  is  some- 
times improperly  used  to  convey — namely,  telepathy 
between  the  "living"  (incarnate)  only,  which  is  what 
is  meant  by  Mr.  McCabe. 

For  my  part,  I  think  the  evidence  for  this  thought- 
transference  between  incarnate  minds  is  satisfactory, 
and  am  glad  to  find  myself  in  agreement  with  Mr. 
McCabe.  If  he  quarrels  with  his  fellow-rationalists 
about  it,  I  shall  be  glad  to  back  him  up.  And  I  think 
it  was  wise  to  work  "telepathy  from  the  living"  for 
all  it  was  worth,  in  considering  mediumistic  phenomena, 
before  going  on  to  the  serious  consideration  of  more 
unorthodox  hypotheses.  Moreover,  it  happened  that 
the  contemporaneous  discovery  of  wireless  telegraphy 
made  it  easy  to  believe — though,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  know  of  no  brain  waves  in  the  ether,  or  anything  of 
the  kind,  and  the  analogy  may  be  misleading, — so  we 
believed  without  requiring  any  large  body  of  evidence. 
Evidence  there  is,  of  course;  the  experiments  of  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge,  Professor  and  Mrs.  Sidgwick,  and  others, 
had  indicated  that  ideas  of  diagrams  and  the  like  could 
be  communicated  from  mind  to  mind  by  means  other 
than  the  known  sensory  channels.  But  we  accepted 
this  very  easily.  Then,  when  apparitions  and  medium- 
istic "communications"  came  along,  we  had  our  ex- 
planation of  them  ready.  It  was  "telepathy."  If  any 
fact  given  by  a  spirit  is  known  to  any  living  person,  the 
explanation  is  telepathy  from  that  person;  if  I  see  an 
apparition  of  my  soldier-brother,  who  afterwards  turns 


TELEPATHY  AND  SURVIVAL         245 

out  to  have  been  killed  a  few  minutes  or  hours  before, 
it  is  either  accidental  coincidence — my  "subjective  hal- 
lucination" being  due  to  natural  anxiety — or  it  is  tele- 
pathy from  the  living — i.e.  in  Mr.  McCabe's  sense; 
his  mind  having  turned  to  me  on  being  wounded,  send- 
ing out  a  pulse  which  either  was  some  time  in  reach- 
ing me  or,  reaching  me,  remained  a  little  while  subcon- 
scious and  latent. 

It  may  be  so.  But  it  is  time  to  question  whether  it 
is  so.  Telepathy  from  the  living,  I  suspect,  has  been 
overworked.  It  is  time  to  be  more  critical.  If  telepa- 
thy may  be  either  between  incarnate  and  incarnate  or 
between  incarnate  and  discarnate,  we  miist  differenti- 
ate. If  the  materialist  says  there  are  no  discarnate 
minds,  we  ask  how  he  knows.  We  demand  his  proof 
— which  is  not  forthcoming.  Wc  admit,  however,  that 
the  antecedent  probability  or  improbability  of  survival 
fails  to  be  considered.    Therefore  a  word  on  this  point. 

It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  though  individual  sur- 
vival of  bodily  death  remains  part  of  the  supposed 
belief  of  Christian  churches,  it  has  ceased  to  be  part 
of  the  living  faith  of  the  average  religious  man.  It  is 
rarely  preached  about  or  written  about.  Clergymen 
shy  at  discussing  it;  they  have  no  vital  belief  in  it 
themselves.  I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  risky  generalisa- 
tion, and  no  doubt  there  are  exceptions.  Some  clergy- 
men have  such  vital  belief,  intuitionally.  But,  gen- 
erally speaking,  the  religious  man  for  the  last  half- 
century  has  been  able  to  do  no  more  than  stretch  "lame 
hands  of  faith."  'We  have  but  faith,  we  cannot 
know."  Tennyson  typified  his  generation  and  the  one 
following  it.  The  great  advance  in  natural  science 
had  resulted  in  the  material  world's  filling  all  our  field 


246        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

of  vision.  It  is  now  receding  into  its  proper  perspec- 
tive. We  are  beginning  to  remember  that  Spirit  is  the 
primary  thing.  Humanly-caused  events  take  place  first 
in  the  human  mind  before  they  are  manifested  on  the 
material  plane.  The  Forth  Bridge,  the  first  Dread- 
nought, the  aeroplane,  were  created  in  the  builders' 
minds  before  they  took  visible  form  in  matter  and 
could  be  perceived  by  others.  And,  analogically, 
events  not  humanly  caused  must  have  their  source  in 
another  Mind,  as  Berkeley  and  all  the  Idealists  have 
taught.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  spiritual  world  be- 
hind the  material  one,  and  the  former  is  the  more  real. 
The  seen  things  are  temporal;  the  unseen  things  eternal. 

And  if  there  is  any  sense  in  this  philosophy,  sur- 
vival of  the  human  spirit  is  more  likely  than  its  ex- 
tinction. Mind  is  not  caused  by  and  dependent  on 
body,  but  the  other  way  round.  Body  is  merely  part 
of  the  mind's  experience — a  necessary  part  in  the  pres- 
ent plane,  an  engine  or  vehicle  of  its  manifestation; 
but  a  part  that  can  be  dropped  like  a  suit  of  old  clothes 
when  the  time  comes  for  us  to  go  "up  higher." 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us,  then,  if  this  philosophy  is 
sustainable,  to  cringe  to  the  materialist,  humbly  beg- 
ging his  tolerant  examination  of  our  evidence.  We 
have  been  too  patient.  It  is  time  to  take  our  rightful 
position.  Survival  is  at  least  as  likely  as  extinction, 
to  put  it  at  its  very  lowest;  and,  if  so,  and  if  we  have 
evidence  claiming  to  support  survival,  it  is  for  our 
opponents  to  prove  that  it  does  not,  or  confess  them- 
selves beaten.  If  it  is  "telepathy"  (from  the  living), 
let  them  prove  it.  Let  them  produce  experimental  tele- 
pathic results — ^provably  telepathic  and  without  spirit 
help — of  the  same  kind  as  the  evidence  in  the  Pro- 


TELEPATHY  AND  SURVIVAL         247 

ceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  that 
claims  to  be  due  to  the  action  of  discamate  minds.  It 
has  not  been  done.  Let  Sir  Ray  Lankester  and  his 
friends  do  it,  and  we  will  accept  telepathy  from  the 
living  as  a  possible  and  reasonable  explanation.  But 
until  it  is  done  there  is  no  scientific  basis  for  the  belief 
that  telepathy  between  living  minds  can  produce  results 
even  remotely  approaching  those  in  question. 

Now,  further,  this  telepathy  from  or  between  the 
living  is  used  loosely  to  cover  two  entirely  different 
things.  For  clearness'  sake  there  ought  to  be  two  dif- 
ferent terms,  one  meaning  the  experimental^  or  at  most 
the  inferribly-willed  transmission  of  thought,  includ- 
ing cases  in  which,  for  example,  a  veridical  apparition 
is  seen  of  a  relative  or  friend  who  may  reasonably  be 
presumed  to  have  directed  his  mind  to  the  percipient 
at  or  about  the  time;  the  other  meaning  the  thing  that 
happens  so  frequently  in  mediumistic  communications, 
when  details  are  given  which  are  unknown  to  the  me- 
dium but  which  are  known  to  the  sitter,  who,  however, 
did  not  happen  to  be  thinking  about  them,  or  which  are 
known  only  to  some  distant  person  who,  again,  is  not 
— so  far  as  reasonable  inference  goes — thinking  about 
them  or  "willing"  their  transmission.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  experimental  telepathy  effected 
by  hard  voluntary  concentration,  and  this  suppositi- 
tious reading  of  a  mind  which  is  not  concentrating  on 
the  subject  at  all.  For  example,  in  a  sitting  with  Mrs. 
Piper,  a  message  came,  purporting  to  be  from  the  son 
of  a  man  slightly  known  to  the  sitter,  who  was  Sir  Oli- 
ver Lodge.  The  message  was  to  be  given  to  the  osten- 
sible sender's  father,  and  this  was  judiciously  done. 
The  details,  which  referred  to  matters  totally  unknown 


248        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

to  Sir  Oliver,  turned  out  true.  The  father  neither  knew 
nor  was  known  to  Mrs.  Piper,  and  the  same  was  true 
of  his  deceased  son.  If  this  was  telepathy  from  jhe 
living,  it  means  a  reading  of  the  mind  of  a  distant 
person  whose  existence  was  unknown  to  the  medium, 
plus  elaborate  makebelieve  to  represent  the  message  as 
coming  from  the  son.  If  Mr.  McCabe  or  any  other  so- 
called  "rationalist"  can  believe  in  such  "telepathy"  as 
that,  great  indeed  is  their  faith!  I  confess  that  my 
credulity  cannot  stretch  so  far.  I  must  remain  scep- 
tical. 

And  even  when  the  knowledge  is  possessed  by  some 
person  present  at  the  sitting,  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  explanation  is  a  reading  of  that  person's  mind. 
In  my  own  investigations  I  have  particularly  noticed 
that  the  communications  are  not  what  I  should  expect 
on  a  mind-reading  theory.  They  come  very  often  from 
people  I  have  not  been  thinking  of  for  months  or  even 
years;  sometimes  from  people  whose  very  existence  I 
had  almost  forgotten;  sometimes  from  people  whom  I 
am  sure  I  had  never  heard  of.  In  this  last  case  it  usu- 
ally appears  that  some  other  spirit,  known  to  me — name 
given — ^has  "brought  him,"  apparently  to  get  round 
the  telepathy  theory;  and  on  inquiry  I  find  that  the 
person  did  exist  and  was  a  friend  of  the  man  who 
"brought"  him.  Perhaps  my  best  case  is  that  of  Elias 
Sidney  in  my  sitting  of  January  15th,  1915,  with  Mr. 
Wilkinson,  but  the  reader  will  have  noticed  others — 
e.g.  the  crucial  case  on  pp.  186-190.  And  I  repeat  that 
even  when  the  facts  are  known  to  me,  they  do  not  seem 
to  be  associated  in  the  same  way  as  they  are  associated 
in  my  own  mind.  If  the  process  were  some  sort  of 
fishing  among  my  recollections,  we  should  expect  cer- 


TELEPATHY  AND  SURVIVAL         249 

tain  groups  to  be  fished  out  together;  we  should  recog- 
nise in  the  mediumistic  communications  a  resemblance, 
in  grouping  and  articulation  and  emphasis,  to  the  ar- 
rangement and  prominence  of  recollections  in  our  own 
minds.  I  have  never  found  this  to  be  the  case,  but 
quite  the  reverse.  The  grouping  of  the  details,  as 
well  as  the  details  themselves,  suggests  some  mind  other 
than  my  own,  and  other  than  the  medium's.  I  do  not 
say  that  mind-reading  is  disproved  or  absurd.  It  is  a 
tenable  hypothesis  as  a  guess.  But  the  facts,  in  my 
experience,  are  heavily  against  it.  They  tell  much 
more  strongly  in  favour  of  the  actual  presence  of  the 
minds  which  are  purporting  to  communicate. 

Lest  the  sceptical  reader  should  think  I  have  over- 
looked a  point,  I  must  explicitly  guard  myself  against 
being  thought  to  hold  that  my  evidence  proves  the 
activity  of  all  the  alleged  spirits  who  ostensibly  com- 
municate or  who  are  described  at  my  sittings  with 
clairvoyants.  I  do  not  claim,  for  instance,  that  Elias 
Sidney  was  ''here";  his  "form"  might  be  a  thought- 
form  created  by  Mr.  Leather  for  evidence'  sake.  Noth- 
ing was  said  about  him  beyond  what  Mr.  Leather  al- 
most certainly  knew,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  Mr. 
Drayton.  The  phenomena  indicating  the  presence  or 
activity  of  these  men  would  only  be  evidential  of  their 
survival  and  presence  in  the  strict  sense,  if  it  contained 
true  information  characteristic  of  themselves  but  un- 
known to  me,  to  the  medium,  and  to  all  the  other  com- 
municating  spirits  who  knew  the  men  in  question.  If 
my  grandfather  and  grandmother  are  named  and  de- 
scribed, with  identifying  details,  it  does  not  follow 
that  both  are  here ;  it  may  suffice  if  one  of  them  is,  or 
indeed  any  spirit  who  knew  the  facts  given;  though  if 


250        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

we  say  so  we  are  making  the  assumption  that  one  spirit 
can  produce  a  form,  visible  to  a  clairvoyant,  of  another 
spirit;  and  assumptions  are  dangerous.  There  is  experi- 
mental proof  that  a  living  person  may  produce  an  ap- 
parition of  himself,  but  little  or  none  that  he  can  pro- 
duce an  apparition  of  someone  else. 

I  admit,  therefore,  that  though  in  the  strictest  sense 
there  is  no  proof  of  the  presence  of  all  those  mentioned, 
I  am  disposed  to  accept  the  supposition  as  reasonable 
that  all  the  minds  suggested  were  probably  more  or  less 
concerned.  It  is  somewhat  the  same  as  the  wider  ques- 
tion of  whether  all  human  beings  survive  death;  we 
cannot  prove  it,  but  if  we  can  prove  (or  obtain  good 
evidence  for  the  hypothesis)  that  some  do,  most  of  us 
will  be  willing  to  admit,  at  least  provisionally,  that 
the  attribute  extends  to  the  whole  species.  I  am  not  at 
all  sure  that  it  does ;  some  may  be  melted  up  again,  as 
the  Button  Moulder  wanted  to  do  with  Peer  Gynt; 
but  the  hypothesis  is  at  least  good  enough  and  reason- 
able enough  as  a  temporary  supposition. 

To  sum  up,  then:  (i)  "Telepathy"  means  com- 
munication of  impressions  of  any  kind  from  one  mind 
to  another,  independently  of  the  recognised  channels 
of  sense,  and  this  definition  will  cover  and  include 
communications  from  minds  no  longer  in  fleshly  bodies. 
(2)  It  is  rash  to  assume,  in  cases  of  veridical  appari- 
tions after  the  death  of  the  supposed  agent,  that  the 
cause  was  a  thought  sent  out  by  the  latter  before  death, 
this  thought  remaining  latent  for  some  time  in  the  per- 
cipient's mind.  There  is  little  basis  of  fact  for  such  a 
guess.  In  many  cases  it  seems  far  more  probable  that 
the  communication  is  the  result  of  post-mortem  activity 
— telepathy  from  the  dead.     (3)  Philosophically,  sur- 


TELEPATHY  AND  SURVIVAL         251 

vival  of  human  personality  is  as  likely  as,  or  more  likely 
than,  its  extinction;  there  is  consequently  no  need  to 
apologise  for  the  evidence  or  to  cling  too  timorously  to 
materialistic  or  quasi-rmtGnaVistic  explanations — telep- 
athy from  the  living  and  the  like.  (4)  Telepathy, 
either  from  the  living  or  the  dead,  is  a  doubtfully  ad- 
missible supposition  unless  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that 
the  communication  is  willed  by  some  mind.  In  experi- 
mental cases  it  is  so  willed;  in  many  mediumistic  phe- 
nomena no  willing  of  the  kind  on  the  part  of  living 
people  is  known  of  or  reasonably  to  be  inferred.  The 
willing,  if  any,  then,  is  on  the  part  of  some  discarnate 
mind,  human  or  non-human.  And  in  many  cases  I 
believe  this  to  be  a  fact.  As  Miss  Alice  Johnson  has 
said,  some  of  the  evidence  indicates  intelligence,  will, 
initiative,  on  "the  other  side." 


CHAPTER  XI 

INFLUENCES    OR    RAPPORT-OBJECTS 

It  will  have  been  noted  that  in  some  of  my  sittings  I 
have  given  the  medium  some  object,  such  as  a  glove 
or  small  trinket,  for  so-called  "psychometry."  This 
is  one  of  the  most  puzzling  parts  of  a  very  puzzling 
subject,  but  it  happens  to  be  one  on  which  I  have  not 
the  slightest  doubt. 

In  regard  to  the  "spirit-theory,"  and  other  theories 
in  various  departments  of  psychical  research,  I  am  quite 
ready  to  admit  the  possibility  of  alternative  hypotheses ; 
I  have  my  own  preferences — e.g.  the  evidence  for  spirits 
seems  to  me  satisfactory,  and  I  therefore  accept  the 
spirit-theory  in  explanation  of  some  happenings — ^but 
I  recognise  that  the  proof  is  not  coercive,  and  that  some 
other  alternative  explanation  may  turn  out  to  be  the 
right  one. 

In  this  matter  of  "influences,"  however,  I  have  no 
hesitation  whatever.  My  experiences  over  many  years 
and  with  many  mediums  have  convinced  me,  slowly 
but  in  the  end  quite  completely  and  unshakably,  that 
some  peculiarly-constituted  people,  by  handling  an  ar- 
ticle which  has  been  in  close  contact  with  some  person 
living  or  dead,  and  which  has  not  been  handled  much 
by  anyone  else,  can  somehow  tell  things  about  that  per- 
son's appearance  or  state  of  health  or  about  things  that 
have  occurred  in  his  life;  and  that  the  correctness  of 
these  statements  excludes  chance-coincidence  by  guess- 

252 


INFLUENCES  OR  RAPPORT-OBJECTS    253 

ing,  while  involuntary  hints  from  the  sitter — also 
telepathy  from  him — are  excluded  as  rational  explana- 
tion by  the  fact  that  the  things  said  are  sometimes  not 
within  his  knowledge  and  are  only  verified  afterwards. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  this  kind  of  thing  was 
about  a  dozen  years  ago.  Many  reports  had  reached 
me  of  the  powers  of  a  certain  medium — Mrs.  White, 
who  lived  a  few  miles  away — and  eventually  several 
intimate  friends  of  mine  went  and  had  sittings,  quite 
separately  and  at  various  times.  Their  reports  shook 
my  previous  healthy  scepticism,  and  I  asked  a  relative 
to  go  on  my  behalf,  taking  a  snipping  of  my  hair.  The 
medium's  medical  controls  described  me  very  accu- 
rately, diagnosed  correctly,  and  prescribed  sensibly, 
without  being  told  anything.  Naturally,  Mrs.  White 
being  a  person  living  in  the  neighbourhood,  I  could  not 
dismiss  the  possibility  that  she  might  possess  some  nor- 
mal knowledge  of  me,  though  I  had  no  reason  to  believe 
that  she  did,  and  indeed  very  good  reason  to  believe 
that  she  did  not*  However,  some  years  of  experimenta- 
tion put  normal  knowledge  out  of  court,  also  telepathy 
from  the  sitter;  for  it  often  happened  that  the  latter, 
going  on  behalf  of  a  sick  relative  or  friend,  would  be 
told  how  often  the  patient  had  omitted  to  take  his 
medicine  or  to  what  extent  he  had  neglected  other 
things  which  he  had  been  ordered  to  do ;  and  these  de- 
linquencies, though  unknown  to  the  sitter,  were  con- 
fessed when  the  deputy  arrived  home  and  charged  the 
culprit. 

From  my  knowledge  of  this  medium  alone,  I  was 
driven  to  admit  the  fact  of  supernormally-acquired 
knowledge,  apparently  through  the  agency  of — or 
partly  by  aid  of — such  rapport-objects;  and  I  have 


254        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

had  abundant  confirmation  through  others.  I  have 
not  made  many  experiments  of  this  kind  with  Mr. 
Wilkinson,  though  an  occasional  test  has  been  made, 
often  with  good  results.  For  instance,  the  correct 
matter  relative  to  Mrs.  Napier  in  my  sitting  of  April 
19th,  1916,  seems  to  go  beyond  what  might  be  ex- 
pected from  pure  chance,  and  it  certainly  went  beyond 
any  telepathy  from  my  mind;  and  on  one  occasion 
this  same  medium  got  results  which  excluded  both 
these  hypotheses,  for  on  handling  a  paper-knife  be- 
longing to  my  friend  Mr.  Knight — whose  sittings  were 
described  in  my  book  New  Evidences — ^he  correctly  and 
fully  named  its  deceased  former  owner,  whom,  so  far 
as  we  are  aware,  he  had  never  either  known  or  heard 
of,  and  whose  surname  was  not  Knight;  also  getting 
correct  details  unknown  to  Mr.  Knight,  but  verified 
later,  about  certain  relatives  of  the  dead  man. 

The  question  naturally  arises:  How  does  it  come 
about*?  What  is  the  modus  of  the  process?  And  the 
answer  is,  unsatisfactorily  enough,  that  we  do  not 
know.  Neither  does  the  medium  know.  He  handles 
the  object,  making  his  mind  as  passive  and  quiet  as 
possible,  and  ideas  or  names  "come  into  his  head" 
which  are  found  to  have  relevance.  That  is  all  he 
can  say.  It  is  mysterious,  though  perhaps  not  much 
more  so  than  the  homing  instinct  of  animals,  as  when 
a  cat  will  find  its  way  back  over  scores  of  miles  which 
it  certainly  never  travelled  before  except  in  a  closed 
basket  on  a  train.  But  though  it  is  mysterious  and  en- 
tirely baffling  as  to  its  modus^  the  facts  now  available 
do  at  least  enable  us  to  answer  provisionally  one  inter- 
esting query  with  regard  to  the  phenomenon,  namely: 
Does  this  psychometry  count  for  or  against  survival,  if 


INFLUENCES  OR  RAPPORT-OBJECTS     255 

it  has  any  bearing  thereon  at  all  *?  The  answer,  I  now 
think,  though  formerly  I  thought  otherwise,  is  that  it 
counts  for  that  theory. 

The  thought  inevitably  arises,  when  a  medical  me- 
dium not  in  trance  and  without  any  claim  of  spirit-help 
can  supernormally  diagnose  a  distant  person's  ailment 
from  a  bit  of  hair  or  a  worn  object,  that  perhaps  the 
object  somehow  carries  the  information,  independently 
of  whether  the  owner  is  alive  or  dead.  (Here  I  must 
remark  that  in  Mrs.  White's  case  there  is  full  trance 
and  the  controls  claim  to  be  spirits;  but  in  some  cases 
the  normal  state  or  something  near  it  is  retained,  and 
there  is  no  appearance  of  spirits,  though  of  course  there 
may  be  help  of  that  kind  behind  the  scenes.)  Some- 
thing of  this  sort  has  been  claimed  by  old  writers,  such 
as  Denton,  in  his  Soul  of  Things^  and  in  recent  books 
such  as  Dr.  Hooper's  Spirit  Psychometry.  According 
to  these,  objects  carry  their  history  with  them,  or  ren- 
der it  accessible ;  in  such  fashion  that  a  psychometrizing 
medium  can  correctly  see  the  main  incidents  in  the 
career,  say,  of  a  piece  of  rock  or  a  fossil,  quite  apart 
from  any  human  mind.  I  think,  however,  that  the  evi- 
dence for  this  is  far  from  convincing.  If  the  claim 
were  established,  it  would  certainly  minimise  or  nullify 
all  evidence  for  survival  in  which  a  rapport-object  has 
been  used;  for  the  object  would  be  capable  of  giving  a 
great  deal  of  information  about  its  late  owner,  quite 
independently  of  whether  that  owner  is  still  in  existence 
on  the  other  side  or  not.  But  the  claim  has  not  been 
established,  and,  indeed,  it  hardly  seems  possible  that 
it  can  be.  A  medium  may  quite  honestly  reel  off  the 
history  of  a  fossil  or  bit  of  volcanic  rock,  believing  the 
ideas  to  be  supernormally  received;  but  subliminal  in- 


256        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

ference  from  the  appearance  of  the  object,  plus  imagi- 
nation and  perhaps  some  involuntary  hints  from  the  ex- 
perimenter, seems  enough  to  account  for  most  of  the 
evidence  so  far  presented.  Moreover,  if  no  human 
record  exists,  it  is  impossible  to  verify  what  has  been 
said;  and  if  it  is  claimed  that  it  fits  in  with  geological 
or  palaeontological  knowledge  which  is  beyond  the  me- 
dium's range,  there  is  still  telepathy  from  the  sitter  to 
reckon  with.  So,  on  the  whole,  I  incline  to  reject  the 
idea  of  objects  carrying  readable  indications  of  their 
history — other  than  inferrible  ones — independently  of 
human  minds.  As  to  the  kind  of  evidence  that  is  ob- 
tained when  a  human  mind  is  concerned,  I  once  thought 
that  medical  diagnosis  was  somehow  an  affair  of  reading 
the  object's  memory,  so  to  speak;  but  now  I  think  it  is 
an  affair  of  telepathic  rapport  between  the  medium's 
mind  (or  the  control's)  and  the  patient's.  On  this  sup- 
position we  must  include  the  patient's  subliminal,  for 
sometimes  true  things  are  said  which  are  unknown  to 
the  patient's  normal  consciousness,  but  which  are  pre- 
sumably known  to  the  subliminal  levels. 

Similarly,  then,  when  a  rapport-object  formerly  be- 
longing to  a  dead  person  is  given  to  a  medium,  it 
establishes  a  rapport,  and  the  medium  gets  in  touch 
with  the  dead  person's  mind,  though  perhaps  only  with 
a  small  and  distant  creek  and  not  its  main  part.  If 
through  will  and  affection  on  the  other  side  the  dis- 
carnate  friend  directs  his  attention  to  that  outlying 
creek  of  his  personality,  its  waters  will  rise,  and  much 
evidence  of  identity,  or  at  least  supernormal ity,  will  be 
forthcoming.  If  there  is  no  particular  interest,  the 
evidence  may  be  scanty.  On  a  purely  psychometric 
theory,  the  results  would  be  different.    A  stranger  tak- 


INFLUENCES  OR  RAPPORT-OBJECTS     257 

ing  an  old  glove  of  some  dead  person  to  a  medium 
would  get  as  much  information  about  that  person  as 
if  a  near  and  dear  relative  had  taken  it.  And  this  is 
not  what  we  find.  A  discarnate  human  being  seems 
to  remain  for  some  time  more  or  less  aware  of  what  is 
being  done  by  survivors  with  the  things  that  interested 
him  in  life,  and  he  can  more  or  less  "communicate" 
when  any  rapport-object  is  taken  to  a  medium;  but 
he  is  not  interested  enough  to  communicate  much  un- 
less the  bringer  of  the  object  is  someone  who  has  a 
place  in  his  affection. 

This  idea  of  rapport  rather  than  psychometry  is 
supported  by  a  series  of  recent  experiences  of  my  own. 
A  friend  of  mine  died  on  November  3rd,  1915.  For 
nearly  ten  years  we  had  had  a  compact  that  the  one 
who  died  first  should  communicate  evidentially  with 
the  other  if  possible ;  and,  curiously,  she  always  thought 
she  would  go  first,  though  our  ages  were  nearly  the 
same  and  she  had  far  better  health  than  I  for  years 
after  the  compact.  A  week  or  two  before  her  death 
she  wrapped  in  oiled  silk  certain  objects — ^gloves,  a 
Prayer  Book,  a  "Tennyson" — and  I  have  presented 
these  at  different  times  to  several  sensitives,  both  pro- 
fessional mediums  and  private  persons  among  my 
friends,  who  have  psychical  powers.  The  first  attempt 
was  made  five  days  after  death,  on  November  8th. 
No  evidence  of  identity  was  obtained,  and  the  owner 
of  the  object  was  said  to  be  still  mostly  sleeping  the 
recuperative  sleep  which  follows  death  and  which 
varies  in. duration  in  different  cases.  On  the  following 
day  she  was  said  to  have  an  occasional  waking  period, 
and  the  automatic  writing  (it  was  a  psychical  friend  of 
mine  who  did  not  know  even  the  name  of  the  spirit) 


258        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

succeeded  in  getting  a  gleam  of  evidentiality  in  a  short 
message  purporting  to  come  from  my  friend  on  the 
other  side ;  but  there  were  several  quite  incorrect  state- 
ments, and  the  communicator,  if  it  were  really  she, 
seemed  to  be  still  dreamy  or  not  in  full  control. 

Two  days  afterwards  (November  nth)  one  of  the 
objects  was  presented  to  a  medium  in  trance,  and 
correct  psychometry  was  obtained,  with  two  letters  cor- 
rect for  the  first  two  letters  of  my  friend's  surname, 
and  correct  and  appropriate  references  to  me.  (The 
medium — a  London  lady — does  not  know  me;  the  sit- 
ting was  held  on  my  behalf  by  a  London  friend  who 
had  not  known  the  deceased  lady  and  did  not  know  her 
name.)  But  at  this  sitting  also  it  was  said  that  the  con- 
trol was  "afraid  it  was  too  soon"  to  get  much  (the 
medium  and  control  had  been  told  nothing  as  to  the 
nearness  or  remoteness  of  the  death,  and  it  might  have 
been  years  ago,  so  far  as  the  medium  could  know),  and 
that  more  would  be  obtainable  later.  A  further  sitting 
took  place  with  the  same  medium  on  November  25th, 
with  some  further  success,  but  it  was  evident  that  the 
link  of  friendship  was  lacking,  and  the  control  said  that 
my  own  presence  was  necessary  to  induce  the  spirit  to 
make  much  effort  to  communicate.  On  March  2nd, 
1916,  I  had  the  sitting  with  Mr.  A.  V.  Peters  reported 
in  the  foregoing  pages,  but  I  made  the  mistake  of 
handing  him  a  box  which  had  belonged  to  my  friend's 
husband,  and  to  her  only  after  his  death,  and  the  result 
was  confusion.  Then  on  April  19th,  with  Mr.  Wilkin- 
son, I  got  the  first  coherent  and  considerable  evidence 
of  my  friend's  identity  and  initiative,  and  I  hope  to  get 
more. 

Now  if  psychometry  were  only  a  reading  of  indi- 


INFLUENCES  OR  RAPPORT-OBJECTS    259 

cations  somehow  imprinted  on  an  object,  would  not 
the  sensitives  have  been  able  to  read  them  at  firsts  and, 
indeed,  best  then,  while  they  were  fresh*?  The  failure 
at  first,  and  the  gradual  improvement  later,  is  certainly 
an  indication — if  it  would  be  too  much  to  call  it  a 
proof — that  communications  depend  on  the  reality  and 
activity  of  the  surviving  mind  with  which  the  rapport- 
object  links  us  up,  and  not  primarily  on  the  object 
itself. 

And  this  is  borne  out  by  much  of  the  evidence  of  the 
Society  for  Psychical  Research.  Such  objects  or  "in- 
fluences"— so  called  by  the  Piper  controls — were  often 
used  in  the  sittings  with  Mrs.  Piper,  and  in  many  cases 
it  may  be  argued  that  their  use  does  weaken  the  sur- 
vival evidence.  But  Mrs.  Piper's  phenomena  do  not 
stand  alone.  In  the  cross-correspondences  there  is  am- 
ple evidence  of  something  beyond  even  "cosmic  mem- 
ory" suppositions;  there  is  evidence  of  will  and 
initiative  on  the  other  side,  as  Miss  Johnson,  one  of 
the  most  cautious  and  most  sceptical  of  investigators, 
has  so  well  pointed  out.  {Proceedings  S.P.R.,  vol.  xxi., 
pp.  376-7.  See  also  Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  Survival  of 
Man,  pp.  324  ff.)  And  one  of  the  automatists — Mrs. 
Holland,  who  was  in  India  and  had  no  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  the  other  writers — was  entirely  with- 
out any  rapport-object  belonging  to  Mr.  Myers  or  the 
other  ostensible  communicators.  Yet  the  Myers  control 
sent  evidential  messages,  giving,  for  example,  the  ad- 
dress in  Cambridge  to  which  some  of  the  script  was  to 
be  sent.  This  was  an  address  unknown  to  the  automa- 
tist,  but  it  turned  out  to  be  the  correct  address  of  Mrs. 
Verrall,  a  lecturer  at  Newnham,  whom  Mr.  Myers  had 
known  very  well.    The  script  made  allusions  to  a  cer- 


26o        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

tain  text  ("Quit  you  like  men,"  etc.),  and  it  happens 
that  this  text,  in  Greek,  is  over  the  gateway  of  Selwyn 
College,  and  that  Mr.  Myers  had  often  remarked  to 
Mrs.  Verrall  about  a  small  linguistic  error  in  the  in- 
scription. Mrs.  Holland,  it  should  be  mentioned,  had 
never  been  in  Cambridge.  This,  occurring  without  any 
use  of  rapport-objects,  suggests  the  action  of  the  sur- 
viving spirit,  as  do  also  the  cross-correspondences. 

My  provisional  conclusion  is  that  these  objects  serve 
as  useful  links,  in  some  unknown  or  only  dimly  sur- 
misable way,  but  that  they  act  only  as  helps,  the  actual 
mind  of  the  person  being  required  for  anything  in  the 
way  of  extensive  evidence.  I  would  draw  no  hard 
and  fast  line,  for  such  objects  may  yield  a  static  sort 
of  evidence  like  descriptions  of  appearance  and  of  ill- 
ness, somewhat  as  the  scene  of  a  murder,  or  some  old 
houses,  may  yield  to  a  sensitive  some  vision  or  impres- 
sion of  the  locality's  history  through  some  emotional 
imprint  on  what  Myers  called  the  "metetherial  environ- 
ment." But  where  initiative  is  plainly  shown,  as  in 
much  of  the  evidence,  this  thought-activity  requires 
the  supposition  of  an  acting  discarnate  mind.  It  goes 
beyond  any  hypothesis  of  a  reading  of  "dead  mem- 
ories." 


CHAPTER   XII 

PSYCHICAL    PHENOMENA    IN    EARLIER    TIMES 

One  sometimes  hears  the  objection:  ''But  if  all  this 
is  true — if  the  dead  are  alive  and  can  communicate — 
why  haven't  we  been  told  before?  Why  has  it  been 
left  for  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  to  dis- 
cover?" But  the  answer  is  that  we  have  been  told 
before;  not  once,  but  many  times.  We  were  told  in 
the  Bible,  and  probably  in  all  the  other  Scriptures  of 
the  world.  We  were  told  by  most  of  the  great  philoso- 
phers, from  Plato  (and  before)  downwards.  To  some 
extent  the  belief  of  prophet  and  philosopher  was  due 
to  intuition  or  to  general  reasoning  of  the  Platonic 
kind ;  but  it  is  almost  certain  that  a  great  deal  of  it  was 
based  on  special  facts  of  the  kind  which  psychical 
research  is  now  examining  and  authenticating.  These 
facts  are  not  new  things  in  nature;  though  they  would 
not,  therefore,  be  incredible  even  if  they  were — for  new 
facts  do  arise,  both  by  human  agency  in  invention  and 
by  non-human  will  in  the  course  of  inorganic  or  organic 
evolution.  A  new  species  is  a  fact.  So  is  a  new  star. 
Novelty  does  not  mean  incredibility.  It  would  be  no 
argument  against  psychical  phenomena  indicating 
either  survival  or  anything  else  that  they  had  only  be- 
gun to  happen  recently.  But  the  truth  seems  to  be  that 
they  are  at  least  as  old  as  history,  and  no  doubt  older; 
though  their  character  may  change  more  or  less  accord- 
ing to  the  current  thought-moulds. 

261 


262        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Mediumistic  communications  were  at  some  times 
and  places  supposed  to  come  from  Apollo,  but  they 
often  contained  truth,  as  in  the  famous  "test  case" 
of  Croesus,  related  by  Herodotus.  Admittedly,  such 
oracular  utterances  seem  as  likely  to  have  been  due 
to  the  medium's  own  clairvoyant  faculty  as  to  any 
agency  of  the  dead;  and  we  know  that  the  human 
subliminal  is  suggestible,  often  running  the  material 
which  it  may  obtain  supemormally  into  the  mould 
of  any  suggested  personality — as  in  the  case  of  Mrs. 
Piper's  Phinuit,  if  we  accept  the  theory  of  the  more 
sceptical  wing  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
in  explanation  of  that  dubious  but  attractive  com- 
municator. But  the  said  clairvoyant  faculty  remains 
to  be  explained,  and  it  points  beyond  a  materialistic 
philosophy.  Apollonius  of  Tyana  at  Ephesus  sees 
clairvoyantly  the  assassination  of  Domitian  at  Piome, 
crying  out  suddenly,  amid  his  friends,  "Strike  him 
down,  the  tyrant!"  And,  in  a  few  minutes:  "The 
tyrant  is  killed."  Materialism  has  no  explanation  of 
that.    It  can  only  refuse  to  believe  the  account. 

However,  many  of  the  ancient  phenomena  were 
definitely  associated  with  the  survival  and  continued 
activity  of  dead  people.  They  were  by  no  means  en- 
tirely subliminal  Apollo-clairvoyance  or  the  like. 
There  is  evidence  that  in  the  palmy  days  of  Rome  there 
were  spiritualistic  societies  and  materialisation-seances,^ 
and  it  seems  likely  that  spiritualistic  phenomena  formed 
part  of  the  early  Greek  Mysteries;  else  why  should 
the  initiate  Plato  say  that  the   knowledge   attained 

*  In  the  last  century  B.C.  some  of  "the  greatest  personages  of  Rome" 
were  "subjected  to  police  supervision  on  account  of  their  alleged  prac- 
tice of  summoning  into  visible  presence  the  spirits  of  the  dead." 
Myers>  Classical  Essays,  p.  207. 


EARLIER  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA     263 

in  the  Mysteries  is  a  full  assurance  of  immortality? 
And,  apart  from  mediumistic  phenomena,  it  is  clear 
that  in  those  days  there  was  general  belief — probably 
with  some  basis  of  fact — in  the  spontaneous  psychical 
happenings  now  known  as  veridical  apparitions.  Ovid 
in  his  Metamorphoses  tells  how  the  drowned  Ceyx 
"appears"  to  his  wife  Alcyone,  and  the  story  is  quite 
true  to  the  modem  type  ^  as  fully  dealt  with  in  the 
"Census"  of  the  S.P.R.  (Proceedings^  vol.  x.).  And 
in  later  times  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  witch-burn- 
ings— the  most  horrible  persecution  in  history,  its  vic- 
tims being  mainly  helpless  old  women — were  due  to 
the  hysterical  fears  of  an  ignorant  populace  which  had 
here  and  there  come  across  psychical  phenomena  which 
it  could  not  understand,  and  which  it  therefore,  as 
usual,  attributed  to  the  Devil.  (The  "subliminal" 
has  now  taken  the  Devil's  place;  it  is  a  useful  word 
for  the  covering  of  our  ignorance.)  And,  among  these 
happenings  which  got  on  the  nerves  of  the  people  and 
the  priests,  there  were  pretty  sure  to  be  phenomena 
engineered  from  the  "other  side,"  mixed  up  with  a 
large  amount  of  "suggested"  matter;  for  instance,  the 
haunting,  a  little  later,  of  John  Wesley's  parental 
home. 

No,  the  difference  is,  in  all  probability,  not  that 
in  our  times  the  things  happen  and  that  in  earlier  time 
they  did  not,  but  only  that  in  those  earlier  times,  before 

^Nineteenth  Century  and  After,  May,  1916,  article,  "A  Classical 
Death  Phantom,"  by  Sir  Oliver  Lodge;  and  Metamorphoses,  Bk.  xi., 
415-748.  Similarly  with  Eneas'  veridical  vision  of  Creusa  {^neid, 
Bk.  ii.)  and — though  these  were  dream  visions — Dido's  equally  verid- 
ical interview  with  Sichaeus,  who  informed  her  of  the  mode  of  his 
death  and  the  whereabouts  of  the  treasure  {jEneid,  Bk.  i.),  and  Isa- 
bella's vision  of  Lorenzo  (in  Boccaccio's  tale),  who  told  her  of  his  fate 
and  place  of  burial. 


264        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  rise  of  modern  science  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  phenomena  were  not  observed  and  recorded  in  the 
careful  and  elaborate  way  which  our  higher  critical 
standards  now  require.  And  this  was  inevitable.  We 
cannot  expect  to  find  ancient  evidence  that  will  come 
up  to  modern  standards.  Consequently,  we  can  neither 
accept  nor  deny,  in  any  dogmatic  way,  such  psychical 
stories  as  those  in  Herodotus,  or  the  miracle  narratives 
of  the  world's  sacred  writings.  But  in  so  far  as  the 
happenings  described  in  the  old  narratives  conform  to 
types  which  are  recognisable  in  the  phenomena  of 
to-day,  they  may  at  least  provisionally  be  considered 
likely  enough.  For  example,  all  the  miracles  of  the 
New  Testament  are  credible  to  anyone  who  has  done 
much  psychical  investigation,  for  he  comes  across  more 
or  less  similar  things;  things,  at  any  rate,  sufficiently 
similar  to  warrant  the  belief  that  where  the  modern 
phenomena  fall  short  of  the  ancient,  the  reason  is  that 
in  the  case  of  these  latter  a  higher  and  more  powerful 
Personality  was  concerned. 

It  is  natural  enough  that  in  a  pre-scientific  era  the 
marvellous  should  have  run  more  or  less  to  seed,  the 
imaginative  and  dramatic  faculty  being  unrestrained 
by  the  severe  criticism  of  a  later  day.  The  Bollandist 
collection  of  Lives  of  the  Saints  contains  about  2  ^,000 
hagiologies,  full  of  miracles  of  most  extraordinary 
kinds;  yet  in  those  days  the  accounts  caused  no  aston- 
ishment. There  was  no  organised  knowledge  of  nature 
outside  the  narrow  orbit  of  daily  life — and  how  narrow 
that  was,  we  with  our  facile  means  of  communication 
and  travel  can  hardly  realise.  Consequently,  there 
was  little  or  no  conception  of  law  or  orderliness  in 
nature,   and  therefore  no  criterion  by  which  to  test 


EARLIER  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA     265 

stories  of  unusual  occurrences.  Anything  might  hap- 
pen; there  was  no  apparent  reason  why  it  shouldn't. 
One  saint  having  retired  into  the  desert  to  lead  a  life 
of  mortification,  the  birds  daily  brought  him  food 
sufficient  for  his  wants;  and  when  a  brother  joined  him, 
they  doubled  the  supply.  When  one  of  them  died,  two 
lions  came  and  dug  his  grave,  uttered  a  howl  of  mourn- 
ing over  his  body,  and  knelt  to  beg  a  blessing  from 
the  survivor.^  The  innumerable  miracles  in  the  Little 
Flowers  and  Life  of  St.  Francis,  are  repeated  in  count- 
less other  lives :  saints  are  lifted  across  rivers  by  angels ; 
they  preach  to  the  fishes,  which  swarm  to  the  shore  to 
listen;  they  are  visited  by  the  Virgin,  are  lifted  high 
in  the  air  and  suspended  there  for  twelve  hours  while 
they  perceive  in  ecstasy  the  inner  mystery  of  the  Most 
Blessed  Trinity.  Almost  every  town  in  Europe  could 
produce  its  relic  which  had  effected  its  miraculous 
cures,  or  its  image  which  had  opened  or  shut  its  eyes,  or 
bowed  its  head  to  a  worshipper.  The  Virgin  of  the 
Pillar,  at  Saragossa,  restored  a  worshipper's  leg  that 
had  been  amputated,^  and  the  saints  were  seen  fighting 
for  the  Christian  army — like  the  "Angels  of  Mons" — 
when  the  latter  battled  with  the  infidel.  In  mediaeval 
times  this  kind  of  thing  was  accepted  without  question 
and  without  surprise. 

About  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  came 
a  change.  The  human  mind  began  to  awake  from  its 
long  lethargy,  began  to  writhe  and  struggle  against 
the  dead  hand  of  authority  which  held  it  down.    The 

^  The  authority  for  this  is  no  less  a  person  than  St.  Jerome.  Cf.  the 
curious  but  more  credible  story  of  St.  Francis  taming  "Brother  Wolf," 
of  Gubbio,  in  Chap.  2i  of  the  Fioretti. 

*This  is  regarded  by  Spanish  theologians  as  specially  well  attested. 
There  is  a  picture  of  it  in  the  Cathedral  at  Saragossa  (Lecky,  Rise 
and  Influence  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,  vol.  i.,  p.  141). 


266        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Crusades,  as  Guizot  shows,  had  much  to  do  with  the 
rise  of  the  new  spirit,  by  causing  educative  contact 
with  a  high  Saracenic  civilisation.  Men  began  to 
wonder  and  to  think.  Heresy  inevitably  appeared  and 
became  rife.  In  1208  Innocent  III.  established  the 
Inquisition,  but  failed  to  strangle  the  infant  Hercules. 
In  1209  began  the  massacre  of  the  Albigenses,  which 
continued  more  or  less  for  about  fifty  years,  the  deaths 
being  at  least  scores  of  thousands;  but  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  further  freedom  and  en- 
lightenment. Nature  began  to  be  studied,  in  however 
rudimentary  a  way,  by  Roger  Bacon  and  his  brother 
alchemists.  The  Reformation  came,  weakening  ecclesi- 
astical authority  still  further  by  dividing  the  dogmatic 
forces  into  two  hostile  camps,  and  thus  giving  science 
its  chance.  Galileo  appeared  and  did  his  work,  though 
with  excusable  waverings,  for  Paul  V.  and  Urban 
VIII.  kept  successively  a  heavy  hand  on  him;  he  was 
imprisoned  at  seventy,  when  in  failing  health,  and, 
some  think,  tortured — though  this  is  uncertain,  and 
his  famous  muttered  reservation  that  the  earth  "does 
move"  is  probably  mythical.  Perhaps  more  important 
still,  Francis  Bacon,  teaching  with  enthusiasm  the 
method  of  observation  and  experiment.  The  concep- 
tion of  law,  of  rationality  and  regularity  in  nature, 
emerged;  Kepler  and  Newton  laid  down  the  ground 
plan  of  the  universe,  evolving  the  formulae  which  ex- 
press the  facts  of  molar  motion.  Uniformity  in  geol- 
ogy was  shown  by  Lyell,  while  Darwin  and  his 
followers  carried  law  into  biological  evolution. 

Then  man  became  intoxicated  with  his  successes. 
It  had  already  been  so  with  Hume,  whose  argument 
against  miracles  depends  on  a  ^etitio  princzpii^  assum- 


EARLIER  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA     267 

ing  that  we  know  all  the  "laws  of  Nature" ;  it  became 
more  so  with  Matthew  Arnold,  who  declared,  in  italics, 
that  ''miracles  do  not  happen.''  {Literature  and 
Dogma.)  Man  treated  his  own  limited  experience  as  a 
criterion,  and  denied  what  was  not  represented  by 
something  similar  therein.  Especially  was  this  the 
case  when  the  alleged  facts  had  any  connexion  with 
religion.  Religion  had  tried  to  exterminate  Science, 
and  it  was  natural  enough  that,  in  revenge,  Science 
should  be  hostile  to  anything  associated  with  Religion. 
Consequently,  the  scientific  man  flatly  denied  miracles, 
not  only  such  stories  as  the  rib  of  Adam  and  the  talking 
serpent  (concerning  which  even  a  Church  Father  like 
Origen  had  made  merry  in  Gnostic  days,  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  before),  but  also  the  healing  miracles  of 
Jesus,  which  to  us  are  now  quite  credible. 

This  negative  dogmatism  is  as  regrettable  as  the 
positive  variety.  It  is  foolish  to  dictate  to  Nature 
what  shall  or  shall  not  happen.  When  the  Ouietist 
miracles  at  the  Parisian  church  of  St.  Medardus,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  became  too  extensive,  the  Govern- 
ment intervened ;  whereupon  a  wag  adorned  the  church 
door  with  the  inscription: 

De  par  le  Roi,  defense  a  Dieu 
De  faire  miracle  en  ce  lieu, 

and  this  is  what  some  pseudo-scientists  have  done. 
But  the  attitude  is  not  scientific.  Science  stands  for 
a  method,  not  for  a  dogma.  It  observes,  experiments, 
and  infers;  but  it  makes  no  claim  to  the  possession  of 
absolute  truth.  It  does  not  dictate  to  God  or  Nature. 
A  genuine  science,  confronted  with  allegations  of  un- 
usual  facts,  neither  believes  nor  disbelieves.     It  in- 


268        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

vestigates.  The  solution  of  the  problem  is  simply  a 
question  of  evidence.  Huxley  in  his  little  book  on 
Hume,  and  J.  S.  Mill  in  his  Essays  on  Religion^  ad- 
mirably showed  up  the  foolishness  of  the  "impossi- 
bility" attitude.  Says  the  former,  in  Science  and  Chris- 
tian Tradition:  "Strictly  speaking,  I  am  unaware  of 
anything  that  has  a  right  to  the  title  of  an  impossi- 
bility, except  a  contradiction  in  terms.  There  are 
impossibilities  logical,  but  none  natural.  A  'round 
square,'  a  'present  past,'  'two  parallel  lines  that  inter- 
sect,' are  impossibilities,  because  the  ideas  denoted  by 
the  predicates  rounds  present^  intersect^  are  contradic- 
tory of  the  ideas  denoted  by  the  subjects  square^  past^ 
parallel.  But  walking  on  water,  or  turning  water  into 
wine,  are  plainly  not  impossible  in  this  sense"  (p.  197). 
In  matters  of  alleged  objective  fact,  it  is  a  question 
of  evidence.  If  things  happen  which  do  not  fit  into 
the  current  theories,  it  is  "so  much  the  worse  for  the 
facts"  and  their  upholders,  ]ust  at  present^  until  ig- 
norant prejudice  has  been  battered  away;  but  ulti- 
mately it  will  be  "so  much  the  worse  for  the  theory." 
Room  will  have  been  made  for  the  facts.  The  hypnotic 
trance  was  looked  on  by  orthodox  doctors  as  a  delusion 
of  Elliotson's  and  Esdaile's,  and  it  was  even  said  that 
the  Indian  natives  who  underwent  severe  operations 
at  the  hands  of  the  latter  without  showing  signs  of 
pain  must  have  been  shamming — must  have  been  feign- 
ing the  ansesthesia  which  Dr.  Esdaile  affirmed  was 
real.  But  the  ignorant  a  priori  notion  had  to  give 
way  before  the  rain  of  further  facts,  and  anaesthesia 
in  the  hypnotic  trance  of  a  good  subject  is  now  a  medi- 
cal commonplace.  The  system  of  orthodox  science  had 
to  make  room  for  the  new  facts.    And  it  will  have  to 


EARLIER  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA     269 

make  room  for  the  facts  which  indicate  survival  of 
bodily  death;  facts  which  probably  have  always  been 
sporadically  existent  more  or  less,  but  which  have  only 
recently  been  attacked  in  a  systematic  scientific  way 
by  men  eminent  in  other  branches  of  natural  knowl- 
edge. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  in  these  matters  as  in 
many  others  the  "educated"  world  has  not  greatly 
shone.  Except  for  a  few  men  like  Sir  William  Bar- 
rett, Sir  William  Crookes,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  and  Dr.  A. 
Russel  Wallace,  our  scientific  leaders  have  not  led. 
They  have,  instead,  been  pushed  along;  and  some  few 
even  still  refuse  to  budge,  being  perhaps  too  busy  to 
investigate,  and  being  quite  properly  cautious  about 
accepting  the  conclusions  of  others.  It  was  the  early 
Spiritualists  who  laid  the  foundations,  found  the  facts, 
bore  the  obloquy,  but  forced  the  phenomena  on  the 
attention  of  the  "leaders."  Even  while  regarding 
m^ny  spiritualistic  phenomena  and  theories  and  pro- 
cedures with  a  certain  dubiety,  we  cannot  refuse  to  the 
Spiritualists  our  admiration  and  our  thanks.  We 
should  not  have  been  where  we  are  now  but  for  them. 
They  have  developed  and  supported  the  mediums  who 
have  provided  us  with  phenomena  to  study.  Early 
Christianity  had  no  scholar  till  Paul  embraced  it.  It 
had  zealous  adherents,  but  little  "respectability."  It 
has  been  somewhat  thus  with  spiritualism,  which,  with 
F.  W.  H.  Myers  as  its  scholarly  apostle — it  is  curious, 
as  I  have  said  already,  that  his  best-known  poem  is 
"St.  Paul" — is  now  coming  to  its  own,  leavening  the 
thought  of  the  world  even  where  its  label  is  not  used, 
and  itself  becoming  almost  respectable ! 

Lest  it  should  be  thought  that  the  phenomena  in  the 


270        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

Lives  of  the  Saints  are  extravagances  without  excep- 
tion, it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  a  few  of  the  things  are 
true  to  authenticated  types,  and  are  therefore  not  in- 
herently incredible.  For  instance,  in  the  Little  Flowers 
of  St.  Francis  there  is  a  levitation  of  St.  Bernard  that 
is  paralleled  in  the  performances  of  D.  D.  Home,  and 
there  are  several  cases  of  human  apparitions.  When 
Friar  James  was  dying,  his  friend  Friar  John  "be- 
sought him  dearly  that  he  would  return  to  him  after 
his  death  and  speak  to  him  of  his  state;  and  Friar 
James  promised  this,  if  God  so  pleased."  A  certain 
day  was  fixed  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  compact,  and, 
according  to  our  modern  notions  of  "suggestion,"  Friar 
John  ought  to  have  had  a  hallucination  of  his  friend 
on  that  day,  for  he  was  expecting  it.  Certainly,  if  he 
had,  we  should  have  ruled  it  out  as  non-evidential, 
because  of  his  expectancy.  But,  as  it  happened,  he 
saw  no  apparition  of  his  friend  on  that  day,  though 
he  saw  Christ,  with  angels  and  certain  saints.  On  the 
day  following,  however,  Friar  J«ames  appeared,  and 
Friar  John  asked :  "Wherefore  hast  thou  not  returned 
to  me  the  day  that  thou  didst  promise?"  Friar  John 
replied:  "Because  I  had  need  of  some  purga- 
tion. .  .  ."  ^  And  there  are  a  few  other  cases  which  at 
least  suggest  some  sort  of  genuine  basis,  though  the  ac- 
counts that  have  come  down  to  us  are  so  crude  and 
sketchy,  and  so  tinctured  with  the  particular  religious 
prepossessions  of  the  narrator,  that  we  cannot  accept 
them  as  very  weighty  evidence. 

But  the  sum  of  the  whole  thing  is  that  throughout 
history  there  have  been  reports  of  the  occurrence  of 
psychical  phenomena  of  various  kinds.    Before  the  rise 

^Little  Floijvers  of  St.  Francis,  p.  94,  Dent's  "Everyman"  edition. 


EARLIER  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA     271 

of  scientific  method,  these  happenings  were,  naturally, 
not  well  investigated  or  attested,  and  in  the  material- 
istic eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  they  were 
mostly  disbelieved.  But  careful  investigation  is  now 
showing  that  more  or  less  similar  things  still  occur, 
and  that  they  have  an  important  bearing  on  many  vital 
problems  of  science,  philosophy,  and  religion. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  THE   NATURE  OF  THE  AFTER-LIFE 

If,  then,  the  soul  lives  on  after  death,  being  thus 
proved  independent  of  the  body  of  this  flesh,  may  it 
not  have  existed  before  birth'?  There  seems  no  reason 
why  it  should  not;  indeed,  the  supposition  is  almost 
inevitable,  and  has  been  accepted  by  many  great  minds, 
both  before  and  since  Plato.  There  is,  it  may  be  ad- 
mitted, nothing  inherently  absurd  in  the  idea  of  crea- 
tion of  each  individual  soul  at  birth  or  shortly  before 
— the  exact  moment  is  a  difficulty — for  if  we  talk 
about  a  beginning  at  all,  of  anything,  we  must  admit 
creation  somewhere;  but  the  idea  is  less  in  accord 
with  the  body  of  our  scientific  knowledge  than  a  more 
"graduated"  concept. 

It  seems  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  soul 
of  man  has  grown  up  gradually,  from  lowly  beginnings, 
as  his  body  has  grown  from  the  unorganised  speck  of 
protoplasm.  Not  that  either  process  excludes  Divine 
help,  guidance,  control;  quite  the  opposite,  for  these 
are  required  at  every  step;  a  biological  "sport,"  breed- 
ing true,  is  as  much  a  creation  as  it  would  be  if  man 
had  appeared  without  his  ape-like  ancestors  or  cousins.^ 
It  is  all  a  matter  of  size  of  step  or  jump;  the  principle 
is  the  same.  Purposive  activity  must  be  admitted  in 
one  case  as  in  the  other.     "Selection"  by  "nature" 

*  Cf.  the  works  of  Mendel  and  De  Vries,  and  an  excellent  booklet 
by  Sir  James  Crichton  Browne,  A  New  Theory  of  Evolution. 

272 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     273 

accounts  for  the  extinction  of  creatures  having  certain 
qualities,  and  for  the  continuation  of  those  having 
others ;  but  the  qualities  themselves  come  into  existence 
by  creation,  or,  if  you  like,  are  introduced  from  the 
spiritual  world  into  the  material  one. 

So  it  is  not  logical  to  exclude  creation  and  Divine 
action  just  because  changes  are  small  and  multitudinous 
instead  of  few  and  great.  The  whole  trend  of  science 
since  its  birth  three  hundred  years  ago  has  been  to  show 
that  the  former  way  is  the  way  God  works;  not  the 
big-jump  way,  as  was  formerly  thought.  And,  all  the 
analogies  of  material  science  pointing  to  graduated 
soul-growth,  we  see  it  as  the  reasonable  thing,  as  we 
now  see  the  reasonableness  and  greatness  of  our  body- 
growth.  Sudden  creations  of  very  complex  things  are 
at  the  least  improbable.  God  works  in  stages.  "Slow 
grows  the  splendid  pattern  that  He  weaves." 

If,  then,  we  lived  before  birth,  it  is  natural  to  wonder 
how  and  where.  It  is  an  ancient  problem;  ancient 
even  two  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago.  And  in 
those  days,  when  spirit  was  thought  of  as  almost  or 
quite  a  material  thing,  though  vaporous  (^wveutiaf 
breath),  it  was  inevitable  that  the  former  life  should 
be  conceived  as  a  material  sort  of  existence,  and  partly, 
indeed,  a  this-earth  one;  and  the  same  after  death — a 
recurrent  cycle.  "There  comes  into  my  mind,"  says 
Socrates,  "an  ancient  doctrine  which  affirms  that  they 
go  from  hence  into  the  other  world,  and  returning 
hither,  are  born  again  from  the  dead."  And  in  the 
famous  myth  of  Er  {Republic^  Bk.  x.),  Plato,  though 
saying  that  some  of  the  incarnating  souls  foolishly 
choose  exalted  lots  because  they  came  from  heaven  and 
"had  never  felt  the  discipline  of  trouble,"  certainly 
I 


274        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

teaches  a  return  to  earth  for  the  departed  human  soul, 
after  its  sojourn  in  heaven  if  its  previous  life  was  good, 
or  after  its  purification  in  nether  regions  if  in  that 
previous  life  it  had  been  evil.  Virgil  seems  to  have 
accepted  something  of  the  same  sort  {Mneid,  Bk.  vi.), 
and  a  similar  theory  is  held  by  the  modern  Theoso- 
phists,  who  base  mainly  on  Indian  philosophy. 

Some  conception  of  this  kind,  elaborated  to  fit  the 
new  conception  of  human  personality  with  its  enlarged 
"subliminal"  areas  and  powers,  and  purified  of  early 
crudeness  and  materiality,  seems  likely  to  become  a 
prominent  feature  in  the  religious  belief  of  the  coming 
time.  Man  is  proved  by  many  psychical  phenomena 
— e.g.  the  facts  showing  heightened  faculty  in  hypnotic 
and  allied  states — to  be  greater  than  he  normally 
knows.  A  large  mental  part  of  him  remains  subliminal 
— "below  the  threshold"  of  consciousness.  He  is  an 
iceberg  which  floats  with  only  one-twelfth  of  its  mass 
above  water. 

This  idea  helps  us  to  reconcile  one  fact  which  is 
an  obvious  difficulty  in  a  pre-existence  theory,  namely, 
the  fact  that  we  have  no  recollection  of  any  existence 
before  our  present  one.  Our  total  self  being  much 
greater  than  its  present  manifestation,  we  are  able  to 
suppose  that  other  fractions  of  us  have  lived  in  a 
material  body  before,  their  experiences  being  hived 
in  the  memory  of  the  complete  self,  while  the  present 
fraction  is  a  new  thing — with,  therefore,  no  memory — 
as  a  cloud  is  new,  though  formed  out  of  a  pre-existing 
huger  mass  of  vapour,  into  which  it  returns,  directly 
or  indirectly. 

To  use  yet  another  figure — and  only  through  anal- 
ogies can  we  present  the  thing  to  our  mental  vision, — 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     275 

the  total  individual  mind  is  a  balloon,  high  up  in  the 
heaven  and  the  sunshine,  with  a  wide  view  and  some 
unknown  great  purpose.  From  time  to  time  it  has  a 
rope  or  ropes  out,  with  a  dredging-net  trailing  on  the 
ground  as  one  dredges  for  sea-bottom  specimens.  The 
point  of  contact  with  earth  is  an  individual  earth-life. 
It  moves  on,  ever  gathering  experiences,  with  con- 
tinual painful  jerks  and  jolts  and  bruisings.  Then, 
when  it  ceases  or  nearly  ceases  to  be  a  gatherer,  it  is 
drawn  up  and  its  contents  made  useful;  another  new 
one  is  thrown  out,  to  gather  experience  in  its  turn. 
Thus  there  is  indeed  a  succession  of  representatives  of 
the  same  transcendental  ego,  but — here  we  differ  from 
the  cruder  form  of  reincarnation  theory — no  reappear- 
ance of  exactly  the  same  fraction. 

As  to  the  destiny  of  the  whole  self,  that  question  is 
beyond  us  at  present.  It  is  best  to  leave  it  alone  and 
to  study  "things  of  a  size  with  our  capacity,"  as 
Thomas  a  Kempis  has  it.  And,  in  speculating  even 
as  far  as  we  have  just  adventured,  we  must  remember 
to  "sit  loose  to  theories."  We  are  feeling  out  into 
the  unknown,  guided  by  facts  indeed,  but  going  beyond 
them  and  guessing  at  others.  We  must  recognise  that 
we  are  speculating,  and  must  remind  ourselves  that  we 
are  not  laying  down  a  dogma,  an  absolute  and  un- 
changeable truth,  but  only  saying  that  at  present,  on 
the  basis  of  such  knowledge  as  we  have,  this  or  some- 
thing like  this  seems  on  the  whole  to  ourselves  the 
most  reasonable  supposition,  though  others  may  quite 
justifiably  think  otherwise,  their  knowledge-data  being 
different  and  perhaps  wider. 

On  this  point,  once  more,  Plato  can  hardly  be  bet- 
tered : 


276        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

"A  man  of  sense  ought  not  to  say,  nor  will  I  be  very 
confident,  that  the  description  which  I  have  given  of 
the  soul  and  her  mansions  is  exactly  true.  But  I  do 
say  that,  inasmuch  as  the  soul  is  shown  to  be  immortal, 
he  may  venture  to  think,  not  improperly  or  unworthily, 
that  something  of  the  kind  is  true.  The  venture  is  a 
glorious  one,  and  he  ought  to  comfort  himself  with 
words  like  these,  which  is  the  reason  why  I  lengthen 
out  the  tale.  Wherefore,  I  say,  let  a  man  be  of  good 
cheer  about  his  soul,  who,  having  cast  away  the  pleas- 
ures and  ornaments  of  the  body  as  alien  to  him  and 
working  harm  rather  than  good,  has  sought  after  the 
pleasures  of  knowledge;  and  has  arrayed  the  soul,  not 
in  some  foreign  attire,  but  in  her  own  proper  jewels, 
temperance,  and  justice,  and  courage,  and  nobility,  and 
truth — in  these  adorned  she  is  ready  to  go  on  her  jour- 
ney .  .  .  when  her  hour  comes." 

Admittedly  it  may  be  that  the  whole  fabric  of  ex- 
perience, including  all  inferences,  such  as  that  of  a 
future  life,  is  a  sort  of  dream  or  illusion.  Sense-per- 
ception may  be  a  confidence  trick;  one  sense  confirms 
another,  but  who  is  to  vouch  for  the  lot*?  They  are 
related,  have  grown  up  together,  and  naturally  are  in 
league.  They  are  like  Schopenhauer's  sciences,  each 
of  which  introduces  another  as  his  cousin,  "but  how 
do  I  stand  to  the  whole  company  *?"  The  Chinese 
philosopher  Chuang  Tze,  after  dreaming  that  he  was 
a  butterfly,  said,  "Now,  am  I  a  man  who  has  been 
dreaming  he  was  a  butterfly,  or  am  I  a  butterfly  now 
dreaming  I  am  a  man?"  There  is  no  proof  possible, 
either  way.  "Absolute"  knowledge  is  unattainable. 
But,  the  experiences  of  each  state  being  real  while 
we  are  in  that  state,  it  seems  probably  futile  to  specu- 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     277 

late  much  as  to  how  real  or  unreal  they  may  be  when 
seen  from  the  standpoint  of  another  state.  That  kind 
of  speculation  leads  to  nothing  but  destruction  and 
scepticism,  so  far  as  philosophy  is  concerned.  Quite 
probably  there  is  a  sense  in  which  our  present  life  is 
indeed  a  dream — a  very  bad  dream  sometimes,  in  our 
times  of  suffering  and  sorrow — and  when  we  wake  into 
the  next  stage  we  may  find  it  so  radically  different  that 
our  present  experience  does  not  enable  us  to  form  any 
true  conception  of  it. 

It  may  be  so.  The  Christian  Scientists  seem  to 
think  so,  and  to  get  help  from  the  thought.  But  to 
most  of  us  it  will  seem  best  to  take  reality  largely  at 
its  face  value;  to  accept  experience  and  the  rational 
interpretation  of  it,  and  to  keep  our  fulcrum,  so  to 
speak,  on  this  side.  Consequently,  however  true  it 
may  be  in  some  absolute  or  incomprehensible  sense 
that  this  present  life  is  a  dream  and  that  we  can  infer 
nothing  from  it  about  Reality,  it  nevertheless  seems 
best,  on  the  whole,  to  act  as  if  it  were  real  and  reli- 
able; to  accept — here  is  the  present  point — to  accept 
the  inferences  about  a  "future  life"  which  seem  to  be 
required  by  the  facts  of  psychical  research,  as  we  ac- 
cept other  scientific  inferences  when  the  facts  seem  to 
require  them. 

We  have  climbed  up  a  long  ladder  of  development, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  we  are  at  the  top. 
Human  intelligence  is  certainly  the  highest  that  is  so 
obviously  existent  as  to  be  admitted  by  all,  but  it  is 
absurd  to  suppose  it  the  highest  in  existence.  We  did 
not  make  the  Universe.  Something  did.  That  may 
be  called  naif  argument,  but  it  is  sound.  Effects  re- 
quire causes.    If  you  throw  causation  and  reason  over- 


278        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

board,  you  are  throwing  away  the  pilot  and  the  steers- 
man, and  you  may  land  where  you  should,  or  you  may 
not.  Indeed,  you  are  also  denying  the  existence  of  the 
shipbuilder.  Beings  higher  than  ourselves  there  must 
be.  Certainly  a  Being,  and  almost  certainly  a  multi- 
tude of  intermediate  beings,  for  everything  goes  by 
gradation  in  the  world  we  are  in  at  present.  To  the 
level  of  some  of  these  we  may  climb.  Some  of  them 
are  those  we  have  lost  awhile;  who  have  gone  before. 
At  each  stage  there  is  an  appropriate  World-view. 
But  though  we  thus  believe  that  there  are  world-views 
far  transcending  our  present  feeble  conceptions,  our 
wisdom  is  to  get  the  best  view  we  can  with  the  faculties 
we  have  now  and  the  facts  we  can  now  obtain,  leaving 
to  those  other  and  later  stages  the  experiences  proper 
to  them.  To  do  otherwise  is  to  make  the  mistake 
allegorically  indicated  by  Balzac  in  his  Quest  of  the 
Absolute — to  drop  the  reality  for  the  shadow.  For 
though  a  plane  is  real  to  those  on  it,  it  can  only  be 
shadowily  realised  on  another,  and  the  reality  of  the 
present  one  is  partly  lost,  good  experience  being  thus 
missed.  This  has  been  the  mistake  of  India  and  of 
many  mystical  cults.  We  must  avoid  the  materialism 
which  sees  only  one  world,  but  we  must  equally  avoid 
the  mysticism  which  is  so  filled  with  the  thought  of 
worlds  ahead  that  it  tries  to  live  in  them  before  its 
time.    To  each  day  its  task.    Some  mystics 

.    .    .    breathe  in  worlds 
To  which  the  heaven  of  heavens  is  but  a  veil, 

and,  being  so  loftily  remote,  they  can  hardly  get  the 
good  of  this  world  as  they  might,  though  indeed  they 
may  be  here  as  teachers  mainly,  antidotes  to  material- 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE    279 

ism.  But,  on  the  whole,  the  right  mysticism  is  that 
which  loves  the  good  green  earth  and  its  living  freight : 
living  and  acting  "here"  as  well  as  "there." 

Obviously,  then,  the  very  thing  that  I  am  saying 
now,  and  which  I  believe  sincerely  and  profoundly  to 
be  true — about  gradation  and  progress  through  the 
worlds — is  nevertheless  not  true  in  any  "absolute" 
sense.  My  conclusions,  and  all  contemporary  ones, 
will  be  superseded  by  successors  more  true  and  worthy, 
as  the  Ptolemaic  system  was  succeeded  by  the  Coper- 
nican.  But  that  need  not  depress  us;  it  certainly  does 
not  depress  me.  By  the  time  incarnate  folk  have  got 
ahead  of  where  I  am  now,  I  shall  no  doubt  have  gone 
ahead  considerably  myself. 

In  short,  all  I  am  contending  for  is  that  though 
Science  brings  no  "absolute"  knowledge,  the  proper 
thing  to  do  is  to  accept  the  knowledge  it  does  bring, 
in  each  plane;  to  face  facts,  and  to  face  ourselves, 
honestly,  seeking  only  to  learn  and  grow  and  help; 
and  to  leave  all  else  to  the  Master  Power  whom  we 
may  call  God. 

It  occurs  to  me,  here,  that  some  readers  may  be 
disappointed  with  the  vagueness  of  my  suggestions  re- 
garding the  nature  of  the  after-life,  and  may  wish  for 
something  concrete  and  exact.     I  believe  that  we  sur-  \ 
vive  death,  that  we  are  met  by  friends  when  we  go  I 
over,  and  that  progress  continues  on  the  other  side;  } 
and,  for  me,  this  is  enough  at  present.    As  to  the  exact  / 
nature  of  the  progress  and  of  the  life  there — whether  \ 
we  shall  live  in  houses,  go  to  concerts,  wear  clothes,  \ 
etc. — I  simply  do  not  know.     As  Plato  says,  "Some-  \ 
thing  of  the  kind  may  be  true,"  and  it  is  certainly    j 
desirable  to  link  up  the  next  stage  with  this  as  closely  J 


28o        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

as  possible.    For  myself,  I  do  not  yet  see  how  a  spiritual 
world  can  safely  be  regarded  as  only  a  material  world 
of  a  finer  kind;  it  reminds  one  of  "weighing  the  soul," 
brain  secreting  thought  as  liver  secretes  bile,  and  other 
materialistic  confusions.     However,  I  may  be  wrong. 
And  some  of  these  materialistic  heaven  conceptions  are 
interesting,  and  perhaps  helpful  to  many,  so  I  venture 
to  quote  at  some  length  one  of  the  best  that  I  have 
/come  across,  from  an  old  book  by  Dr.  Hare,  which 
\  probably  is  now  not  easily  obtainable.     It  was  pub- 
I  lished  in  New  York  in  1855,  under  the  ponderous  title: 
i  Experimental  Investigation  of  the  Spirit  Manifesta- 
tions Demonstrating  the  Existence  of  Spirits  and  their 
I  Communion  with  Mortals.     Dr.  Hare  was  M.D.  and 
*  Emeritus  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.    His  messages  were  obtained  by  various 
ingenious  ouija-methods,  some  of  which  seem  to  have 
eliminated  the  possibility  of  mediumistic  fraud  and 
even  also  of  the  medium's  subliminally  causing  the 
phenomena — unless  we  assume  a  great  deal  of  clair- 
voyance— for  the  letters  were  arranged  invisibly.  How- 
ever, it  is  difficult  to  feel  sure  about  that.    The  quota- 
tions are  from  pages  1 19  to  124  of  the  work  cited : — 

620.  From  the  information  conveyed  by  communications 
submitted  in  the  preceding  pages,  as  well  as  others,  it  appears 

-  that  there   are  seven  spheres  recognised  in  the  spirit  world. 
The  terrestrial  abode  forms  the  first  or  rudimental  sphere. 

621.  At  the  distance  of  about  sixty  miles  from  the  ter- 
restrial surface,  the  spirit  world  commences.  It  consists  of 
six  bands  or  zones,  designated  as  spheres,  surrounding  the 
earth,  so  as  to  have  one  common  centre  with  it  and  with 
each  other.  An  idea  of  these  rings  may  be  formed  from  that 
of  the  planet  Saturn,  excepting  that  they  are  comparatively 
much  nearer  to  their  planet,  and  that  they  have  their  broad 
surfaces   parallel  to  the  planet   and   at   right  angles  to  the 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     281 

ecliptic,  instead  of  being  like  Saturn's  rings,  so  arranged  that 
their  surfaces  are  parallel  to  the  plane  in  which  his  ecliptic 
exists. 

622.  Supposing  the  earth  to  be  represented  by  a  globe  of 
thirteen  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter,  the  lower  surface  of 
the  lowest  of  the  spiritual  spheres,  if  represented  in  due  pro- 
portion to  the  actual  distance  from  the  earth,  would  be  only 
one-tenth  of  an  inch  from  the  terrestrial  surface.  The  bands 
observed  over  the  regions  in  the  planet  Jupiter  which  corre- 
spond with  our  tropical  regions,  agree  very  well  in  relative 
position  with  those  which  are  assigned  to  our  spiritual  spheres. 
They  are  probably  the  spiritual  spheres  of  that  planet. 

It  having  struck  me  as  possible  that  these  bands  might  be 
due  to  spiritual  spheres  appertaining  to  Jupiter,  I  inquired 
of  the  spirits ;  their  reply  was  confirmatory. 

623.  The  objection  naturally  occurs  that  ours  are  invisible 
to  us;  yet  we  know  that  light  may  be  polarised  in  passing 
through  transparent  masses  so  as  to  produce  effects  in  one 
case  which  it  does  not  in  others  when  not  so  polarised.  It 
will  have  to  pass  through  the  spheres  of  Jupiter,  and  return 
through  them  again.  This  light,  twice  subjected  to  the  ordeal 
of  passing  through  the  spirit  world,  when  contrasted  with  that 
which  goes  and  returns  without  any  such  ordeal,  may  undergo 
a  change  of  a  nature  to  produce  an  effect  upon  the  eye, 
when,  in  the  absence  of  this  contrast,  no  visual  change  should 
be  perceptible.    .    .    . 

630.  The  interval  between  the  lower  boundaries  of  the  first 
spiritual  sphere  and  the  second  is  estimated  at  thirty  miles  as 
a  maximum,  but  this  interval  is  represented  to  be  less,  as  the 
spheres  between  which  it  may  exist  are  more  elevated  or  re- 
mote from  the  terrestrial  centre. 

631.  Each  sphere  is  divided  into  six  "circles"  or  plains. 
More  properly  these  may  be  described  as  concentric  zones,  oc- 
cupying each  about  one-sixth  of  the  space  comprised  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  sphere.  There  being  six  subdivisions  to 
each  of  the  six  spheres,  in  all  there  must  be  thirty-six  grada- 
tions. 

632.  These  boundaries  are  not  marked  by  any  visible  par- 
tition, but  spirits  have  in  this  respect  a  peculiar  sense,  which 
makes  them  feel  when  they  are  passing  the  boundaries  of 
one  sphere  in  order  to  get  to  the  next. 

633.  This  allegation  of  the  existence  of  an  invisible  spirit 
world  within  the  clear  azure  space  intervening  between  the 


282        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

surface  of  this  globe  and  the  lunar  orbit  may  startle  the 
reader;  and  yet  this  idea  may  have  been  presented  by  Scrip- 
ture to  the  same  mind,  without  awakening  scepticism.  It  was 
urged  by  a  spirit  friend:  Is  it  more  wonderful  that  you 
should  find  our  habitations  invisible,  than  that  we  are  in- 
visible ? 

634.  It  is  plain  that  between  the  lowest  degrees  of  vice, 
ignorance,  and  folly,  and  the  highest  degrees  of  virtue,  learn- 
ing, and  wisdom,  there  are  many  gradations.  When  we  are 
translated  to  the  spheres,  we  take  a  rank  proportional  to  our 
merit,  which  seems  to  be  there  intuitively  susceptible  of  es- 
timation by  the  law  above  alluded  to,  of  the  grossness  being 
greater  as  the  character  is  more  imperfect. 

Both  the  spirits  and  spheres  are  represented  as  having  a 
gradation  in  constitutional  refinement,  so  that  the  sphere  to 
which  a  spirit  belongs  is  intuitively  manifest.  Rank  is  de- 
termined by  a  sort  of  moral  specific  gravity,  in  which  merit  is 
inversely  as  weight.  Another  means  of  distinction  is  a  circum- 
ambient halo  by  which  every  spirit  is  accompanied,  which 
passes  from  darkness  to  effulgency  as  the  spirit  belongs  to 
a  higher  plane.  Even  mortals  are  alleged  to  be  surrounded 
with  a  halo  visible  to  spirits,  although  not  to  themselves. 
Intuitively,  from  the  extent  and  nature  of  this  halo,  spirits 
perceive  the  sphere  to  which  any  mundane  being  belongs. 
The  effulgence  of  the  higher  spirits  is  represented  as  splendid. 
As  soon  as  emancipated  from  their  corporeal  tenement,  spirits 
enter  the  spheres,  and  are  entitled  to  a  station  higher  in  direct 
proportion  to  their  morality,  wisdom,  knowledge,  and  intel- 
lectual refinement. 

635.  The  first  spiritual  sphere,  or  the  second  in  the  whole 
series,  is  as  large  as  all  the  other  five  above  it.  This  is  the 
hell  or  Hades  of  the  spirit  world,  where  all  sensual,  malevolent, 
selfish  beings  reside.  The  next  sphere  above  this,  or  the  third 
in  the  whole  series,  is  the  habitation  of  all  well-meaning  per- 
sons, however  bigoted,  fanatical,  or  ignorant.  Here  they  are 
tolerably  happy. 

636.  In  proportion  as  spirits  improve  in  purity,  benevolence, 
and  wisdom  they  ascend.  They  may  ascend  as  love-spirits 
in  consequence  of  the  two  first-mentioned  attributes;  but  can- 
not go  up  on  account  of  wisdom  alone. 

A  knave,  however  wise,  cannot  advance  in  the  spheres. 
There  are,  in  fact,  two  modes  of  ascent — love,  so  called,  and 
love  and  wisdom  united.    Those  who  go  up  in  love  are  called 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     283 

lov e-spiTits ;  those  who  unite  both  qualifications  are  called 
zvisdotn'Spints,  A  feminine  spirit,  who  had  been  remarkable 
for  her  disinterested  devotion  to  her  relatives  and  friends, 
ascended  almest  forthwith  to  the  fifth  sphere.  My  friend 
W.  W.  had  an  ascent  equally  rapid  to  the  same  sphere.  Yet 
another  spirit,  who  was  fully  as  free  from  vice  as  either  of 
those  above  alluded  to,  took  many  years  to  ascend  in  wisdom 
to  the  fifth  sphere,  not  being  satisfied  to  rise  unless  accom- 
panied by  the  attributes  of  wisdom,  as  well  as  love.  Spirit 
B.  alleged  that  because  he  was  a  free-thinker  he  went  up 
more  quickly  than  another  spirit,  A.  A.,  being  questioned, 
admitted  that  B.  had  gone  on  more  speedily  in  consequence 
of  superior  liberality. 

637.  Washington  is  in  the  seventh  sphere. 

638.  In  the  spheres,  diversity  of  creed  has  no  influence, 
excepting  so  far  as  its  adoption  indicates  badness  of  heart  and 
narrowness  of  mind,  and  has  been  of  a  nature  to  injure  the 
moral  and  intellectual  character. 

639.  Degradation  ensues  as  an  inevitable  consequence  of 
vice,  and  as  the  means  of  reform,  not  as  vindictive  punish- 
ment. God  is  represented  as  all  love,  and  is  never  named 
without  the  most  zealous  devotion.  Spirits  in  any  sphere 
can  descend  into  any  sphere  below  that  to  which  they  be- 
long, but  cannot  ascend  above  this  sphere.  They  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  halo,  which  is  brighter  in  proportion  as  their 
sphere  is  higher.  They  have  an  intuitive  power  of  judging  of 
each  other  and  of  mortals.  Attachments  originating  in  this 
life  are  strengthened,  while  hatred  passes  away.  The  spirits 
in  the  upper  spheres  have  "ine fable"  happiness.  The  suffer- 
ings of  those  below  are  negative,  rather  than  positive.  They 
are  made  to  feel  shame  at  a  degradation  which  is  rendered 
intuitively  evident  to  themselves  and  all  other  spirits.  But 
all  are  capable  of  improvement,  so  as  to  have  elevation  and 
happiness  within  their  reach  sooner  or  later.  The  higher 
spirits  are  always  ready  to  assist  sinners  by  kind  admonition 

(92). 

640.  My  brother  alleges  himself  to  hold  the  office  of  a 
teacher.  By  teachers,  spirits  fresh  from  this  world,  called 
the  "rudimental  sphere,"  are  examined  to  determine  their  rank. 

641.  Spirits  are  carried  along  with  our  globe  by  their  moral 
affections  and  affinity,  which  upon  them  acts  as  gravitation 
upon  material  bodies.  They  are  just  where  they  wish  them- 
selves to  be,  as  they  move  in  obedience  to  their  moral  impulses 


284        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

or   aspirations,  not  having  a  gross,   material  body  to  carry 
along  with  them. 

642.  Spirits  of  the  higher  spheres  control  more  or  less  those 
below  them  in  station,  who  are  sent  by  them  to  impress  mor- 
tals virtuously.  Spirits  are  not  allowed  to  interpose  directly, 
so  as  to  alter  the  course  of  events  upon  earth.  They  are 
not  allowed  to  aid  in  any  measure  to  obtain  wealth. 

643.  Blessed  spirits  are  endowed  with  a  power  competent 
to  the  gratification  of  every  rational  want.  They  enjoy,  as 
I  am  authorised  to  say  by  the  convocation  of  spirits  to  whom 
allusion  has  been  made,  a  power  like  that  ascribed  to  the 
genius  of  Aladdin's  lamp  (593). 

644.  There  is  nothing  of  the  nature  of  marketable  prop- 
erty in  the  spirit  world,  since  every  inhabitant  above  the 
second  sphere,  or  Hades,  has  as  much  as  he  wants,  and  needs 
no  more  to  purchase  the  requisites  for  his  enjoyment  or 
subsistence  than  we  need  to  buy  air  to  breathe. 

645.  It  ought  also  to  be  explained  that  after  spirits  reach 
the  highest  plane  or  circle  of  the  seventh  sphere,  they  are 
represented  as  being  entitled  to  enter  the  supernal  heaven, 
taking  place  among  the  ministering  angels  of  the  Deity. 

646.  Whether  the  connubial  tie  endures  or  not,  is  optional. 
Hence  those  who  have  not  found  their  matrimonial  connec- 
tion a  source  of  happiness  in  this  world  are  at  liberty  to  seek 
a  new  hymeneal  union  in  the  spirit  world.  Where  there  have 
been  a  plurality  of  husbands  or  wives,  those  unite  who  find 
themselves  happy  in  doing  so.  But,  as  if  to  indemnify  mortals 
for  the  crosses  in  marriage  or  in  love,  or  for  the  dreariness  of 
mundane  celibacy,  all  are  destined  in  the  spheres  to  find  a 
counterpart  with  whom  they  may  be  happy,  there  being  pecul- 
iarly ardent  pleasurable  emotions  attached  to  the  connubial 
union  in  the  spheres  which  mortals  cannot  understand. 

647.  Infants  grow  as  they  would  have  done  upon  earth, 
nearly.  They  are  nursed  and  educated,  and  on  account  of 
their  higher  purity  have,  in  this  point  of  view,  as  much  eleva- 
tion as  their  relatives  who  attain  great  worldly  pre-eminence. 

648.  The  alleged  motive  for  our  existence  in  this  rudimental 
sphere,  is  the  necessity  of  contrast  to  enable  us  to  appreciate 
the  immunity  from  suffering  of  the  higher  spheres.  Infants 
in  this  respect  are  at  a  disadvantage;  but  being  unable  to 
appreciate  their  deficiency,  do  not  grieve  therefor.  "Where 
ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise."    .    .    . 

650.  Among  the  most  wonderful  facts  narrated  by  my  spirit 


PRE-EXISTENCE  AND  AFTER-LIFE     285 

father,  and  sanctioned  by  the  convocation  of  spirits,  is  the  ex- 
istence of  a  spiritual  sun  concentric  with  ours,  and  yet  emit- 
ting independent  rays  to  the  spirit  world,  not  for  our  world; 
while  the  rays  of  our  sun  do  not  reach  the  world  above  men- 
tioned. 

651.  Further,  the  facts  that  spirits  respire  a  vital  fluid  in- 
scrutable to  our  chemists,  although  it  coexists  everywhere  with 
oxygen,  and  furnishes  our  spirits,  while  encased  in  the  flesh, 
with  an  appropriate  spiritual  nourishment. 

652.  Thus  is  there  another  world  existing  concentrically 
and  in  some  degree  associated  with  ours,  which  is  of  infinitely 
greater  importance  to  our  enduring  existence  than  that  wherein 
we  now  abide. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  history  of  this 
sphere-idea  with  any  exactness,  but  it  seems  probable 
that  it  is  a  revival  of  the  Ptolemaic  planetary  spheres, 
which,  indeed,  go  back  more  or  less  to  Pythagoras.^ 
These  seven  heavens  are  referred  to  in  the  Koran, 
Mohammed  having  apparently  got  the  idea  from  the 
Kabbalists;  and  the  reader  will  remember  the  same 
kind  of  thing  in  Dante.  Perhaps  the  influence  of 
Swedenborg  revivified  these  notions,  hence  their  ap- 
pearance in  Andrew  Jackson  Davis's  Great  Harmonia 
(vol.  ii.,  pages  251,  252),  published  in  1851.  But  I 
have  quoted  Hare  instead  of  Davis  because  he  is  fuller 
and  more  definite.  It  is  quite  possible  that  these  con- 
ceptions may  contain  some  truth,  even  though  their 
astronomical  basis  is  exploded;  but  I  cannot  accept 
them  literally,  and  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  be  either 
proved  or  disproved.  They  are  interesting  speculative- 
ly, but  the  evidence  for  their  truth  is  not  of  the  same 
cogency  as  that  which  proves  the  main  fact  of  survival. 

*Moon,  Mercury,  Venus,  Sun,  Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn — the  then 
known  "planets" — were  supposed  to  be  fixed  in  crystalline  spheres  at 
increasing  distances  from  the  earth.  Then  came  the  heaven  of  the 
firmament  or  primum  mobile. — See  Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  Pioneers  of 
Science,  p.  i8  #. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

PSYCHICAL    RESEARCH    AND    RELIGION 

Psychical  research  is  a  branch  of  science.  It  observes, 
records,  and  cautiously  infers.  An  intelligent  journal- 
ist said  to  me  recently,  on  my  mentioning  something 
connected  with  it,  that  he  feared  he  "had  not  enough 
poetic  imagination  to  be  interested  in  psychical  re- 
search." He  has  a  considerable  knowledge  of  a  few 
sciences,  and  he  evidently  looks  down  on  us  poor  poetic 
dreamers.  Or,  rather,  he  feels  himself  to  be  planted 
on  the  good  solid  earth  of  fact,  while  he  thinks  of  us 
as  soaring  into  the  blue.  But,  in  thus  thinking,  it  is 
he  who  is  deceiving  himself  by  too  active  poetic  imagi- 
nation. We  keep  as  close  to  fact  as  he  does;  indeed, 
closer.  The  difference  is  that  he  is  inexperienced; 
there  are  some  facts  which  he  has  not  yet  become  per- 
sonally acquainted  with.  Schopenhauer  said,  a  cen- 
tury ago,  that  "the  person  who  does  not  believe  in  the 
fact  of  clairvoyance  is  not  entitled  to  be  called  a  scep- 
tic; he  is  merely  ignorant."  It  is  true  enough,  though 
characteristically  blunt.  The  fact  of  the  existence  of 
human  faculty  that  is  not  yet  recognised  by  "orthodox" 
science  is  now  established  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who 
have  made  patient  and  unprejudiced  investigation;  or, 
to  be  more  carefully  precise,  I  have  never  known  any- 
one, or  even  heard  of  anyone,  who  has  given  time  and 
labour  and  an  open  mind  to  the  subject  without  being 
convinced;  not  necessarily  convinced  of  personal  sur- 

286 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         287 

vival,  but  convinced  of  supernormal  faculty  of  some 
sort.  But  time  and  labour  and  an  open  mind  are  neces- 
sary. The  thing  is  a  science,  and,  like  all  branches  of 
science,  must  be  worked  at. 

And,  being  a  department  of  science,  it  would  seem 
that  it  has  nothing  specially  to  do  with  religion.  The 
psychical  researcher  might  stick  to  his  last,  declining 
to  be  tempted  into  other  departments,  leaving  it  to 
the  philosophers  and  the  religious  world  to  decide  what 
significance  his  facts  and  theories  have  for  their  own 
special  subjects.  And  this  is  what  some  psychical 
researchers  do,  particularly  those  who  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  the  medical  side — hypnotism  and  mental 
therapeutics  generally.  But  all  sciences  have  religious 
or  philosophic  implications,  near  or  remote;  for  our 
knowledge  of  the  material  universe  affects  our  meta- 
physical ideas.  Copernicus  and  Galileo  were  astrono- 
mers, but  they  influenced  theology  also.  The  greater 
universe-conceptions  which  they  brought  about  needed 
a  correspondingly  greater  God.  Metaphysics  has  to 
keep  pace  with  physics.  And  though  the  mental-thera- 
peutic side  of  psychical  research — somewhat  like  chem- 
istry— has  little  direct  bearing  on  religion,  the  other 
departments  dealing  with  telepathy  and  survival  have 
— like  astronomy,  but  more  so — a  rather  vital  or  at 
least  intimate  relation  thereto. 

We  are,  therefore,  almost  inevitably  carried  forward 
to  the  discussion  of  wider  things  than  the  facts  with 
which  we  were  primarily  concerned;  for  the  explana- 
tion of  these  facts  seems  to  call  for  statements  which 
hitherto  have  been  regarded  as  a  monopoly  of  theo- 
logian or  prophet.  We  find  that  these  facts  confirm 
— in  essentials,  not  in  detail — ^much  that  Religion  has 


288        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

taught.  If  materialistic  scientists  still  remain  and  are 
inclined  to  deprecate  this,  we  can  only  say  that  we  are 
sorry  if  we  offend,  but  that  we  are  seeking  truth, 
following  the  indications  of  the  facts,  applying  all 
known  tests,  and  going  out  of  the  old  scientific  terri- 
tory only  when  the  facts  fairly  drive  us  out.  But  we 
do  not  go  outside  of  science;  we  consolidate  our  posi- 
tion, bringing  the  new  territory  into  the  scientific  realm. 

What,  then>  is  the  bearing  of  psychical  research  on 
religion*?  How  does  it  modify  our  previous  religious 
conceptions;  or,  if  we  had  no  religious  conceptions 
previously,  what  are  those  which  it  supplies  or  sug- 
gests? In  what  follows  I  must  be  understood  as  speak- 
ing for  myself  alone,  and  not  for  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  which,  as  a  body,  has  no  creed 
except  that  the  subject  calls  for  investigation.  I  am 
probably  a  fairly  average  member,  but  individual 
members  naturally  differ  more  or  less  on  many  points. 

The  results  of  psychical  research  bring  about  a  radi- 
cal change  in  our  conception  of  human  personality; 
of  its  nature  first,  before  we  even  begin  to  question  our- 
selves about  its  destiny.  They  enlarge  it  somewhat 
as  the  new  astronomy  of  three  centuries  ago  enlarged 
our  conception  of  the  external  universe.  They  enlarge 
it  in  two  ways,  which  we  may  call,  for  convenience. 
Width  and  Length. 

Widening  of  Personality-Conception 

This  is  mainly  through  the  establishment  of  the 
"Subliminal,"  which,  though  more  or  less  recognised 
under  various  names  by  writers  such  as  Hartmann  and 
others,  was  first  fully  and  systematically  treated,  thirty 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         289 

years  ago,  by  F.  W.  H.  Myers,  who,  as  Prof.  James 
has  remarked,  may  be  said  to  have  discovered  it.  The 
facts  of  hypnotism,  notably  the  performance  of  feats 
of  memory  and  calculation  which  are  quite  impossible 
to  the  subject  in  the  waking  state, ^  coupled  with  the 
similar  phenomena  of  arithmetical  prodigies  who  do 
not  know  how  they  get  their  results,^  and  with  the 
curious  facts  of  multiple  personality  ^ — these,  not  to 
mention  the  ordinary  though  unexplained  phenomena 
of  "instinct"  and  the  perhaps  allied  phenomena  of 
dowsing  and  clairvoyance  generally,  are  proofs  that 
the  total  self  is  something  far  greater  than  its  present 
conscious  manifestation.  This  total  self  has  been  com- 
pared, as  already  remarked,  to  an  iceberg,  of  which 
only  one-twelfth — representing  the  normal  conscious- 
ness— is  ordinarily  visible  above  the  surface.  Or  it 
may  be  compared  to  a  polygonal  object  resting  upon 
one  of  its  facets  on  a  table.  The  facet  touching  the 
table  is  the  normal  consciousness,  the  part  (of  the  total 
self)  which  is  in  contact  with  the  material  world.  But 
the  other  facets  are  existing  also,  in  a  different  and 
higher  environment,  and  the  experience  of  the  total 
Self  is  greater  than  that  of  any  one  of  the  sides.  If 
reincarnation  is  a  fact  (I  express  no  opinion,  for  I  see 
little  evidence  for  it,  while  admitting  that  it  is  a  legiti- 
mate speculation)  we  may  visualise  the  polygon  as 
turning  over  on  another  side,  bringing  a  new  facet  in 
contact  with  the  material  world.  It  is  a  different  facet, 
and  consequently  has  no  recollection  of  the  preceding 
life  of  the  other  facet ;  but  it  belongs  to  the  same  Self 

*  Dr.  Bramwell's  experiments,  in  Proceedings,  S.P.R.,  vol.  xii.,  pp. 
176-203. 
'Myers's  Human  Personality,  vol.  i.,  pp.  79,  116. 
•Dr.  Prince,  The  Dissociation  of  a  Personality. 


290        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

as  that  other,  and  therefore  it  is  a  sort  of  reincarnation, 
being  a  reappearance  of  the  same  entity. 

In  all  such  figures  of  speech,  however,  we  must 
remember  that  we  are  only  inventing  them  to  help 
our  thought,  which  inevitably  is  shaped  so  greatly 
by  our  visual  experience;  we  must  not  forget  that 
in  visualising  as  spatial  and  material  a  thing  which 
is  certainly  neither  (i.e.  the  mind,  or  soul,  or  spirit), 
we  are  making  a  risky  venture  which  is  sure  to  be  partly 
wrong.  But  if  we  are  to  think  and  get  along  at  all 
we  must  construct  these  thought-models,  as  we  do 
in  other  sciences — visualising  flying  atoms  or  electrons, 
or  what  not — even  if  we  know  them  to  be  inadequate. 
They  are  useful  for  the  present,  and  that  is  their  justifi- 
cation. The  polygon  for  the  transcendental  Self  is  a 
legitimate  figure,  expressing  the  fact — vague  if  not 
visualised — that  our  Self  extends  far  beyond  our  pres- 
ent manifested  portion;  that  we  are  "greater  than  we 
know,"  as  Wordsworth  said. 

Lengthening  of  Personality-Conception 

The  Self,  we  have  said,  is  a  wider  affair  than  was 
thought.  We  are  greater  than  we  know.  But  the 
facts  we  have  glanced  at — increased  faculty  in  hyp- 
nosis and  the  like — while  extending  personality  in 
width,  do  not  necessarily  extend  it  in  length.  How- 
ever great  the  Self's  reality  may  be,  the  whole  7nay  go 
out  of  existence  at  the  death  of  the  manifesting  por- 
tion. But  here  come  in  two  important  lines  of  evidence 
- — two  streams  of  new  facts — which  prove  extended 
duration  as  well  as  extended  faculty.  These  two  lines 
are  Telepathy  and  Spiritistic  Evidence.    If  Telepathy 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION 


291 


';  is  a  fact — if  communication  between  mind  and  mind 
[  really  occurs  through  channels  other  than  the  known 
I  sensory  ones — and  if,  as  seems  likely,  it  is  not  a  physi- 
\  cal  process, — it  proves  at  once  the  existence  of  a  spir- 
itual world,  for  it  must  take  place  in  a  world  of  some 
sort,  and  the  non-dependence  of  mind  on  body.  Or,  if 
this  latter  can  hardly  be  "proved"  by  telepathy,  it  is  at 
least  rendered  likely;  for  if  telepathy  is  not  physical, 
the  spiritual  seems  likely  to  be  the  prms,  and  the 
material  an  adjunct.  Admittedly,  thus  far,  individual 
continuity  is  not  yet  made  clear.  Telepathy,  by  sug- 
gesting a  common  nature  in  mankind  and  a  probable 
continual  small  leakage  and  permeation  between  mind 
and  mind  imperceptibly,  indeed  suggests  a  sort  of  pan- 
psyche^  a  spiritual  total  in  which  individuation  is  only 
temporary,  characteristic  merely  of  the  present  world ; 
a  sea  in  which  at  present  we  are  the  waves.  But  here 
comes  in  the  spiritistic  evidence,  of  which  the  S.P.R. 
and  other  workers  have  given  examples.  There  is  no 
doubt  whatever  about  the  significance  of  this  evidence. 
It  points  most  unmistakably  to  individual  survival. 
The  Self  continues.  It  is  greater  than  we  know,  longi- 
tudinally as  well  as  laterally.  It  has  duration  as  well 
as  extent,  beyond  the  bodily  manifestation. 

Human  personality,  then,  is  extended  in  duration 
as  well  as  widened  in  faculty.  The  Self's  powers  are 
greater  than  those  normally  manifested  in  the  earth- 
life — how  much  greater  we  cannot  wholly  know — and 
its  longitudinal  existence  is  a  far  greater  affair  than 
the  present  life,  which  is  but  a  small  section.  In  my 
Father's  house,  which  is  the  Universe,  are  many  tarry- 
ing-places,  many  sections  of  road,  many  halting-places, 
and  some  of  them  are  unpleasant.     But  they  are  only 


292        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

part  of  the  way,  and  are  only  experienced  as  evils  by 
part  of  the  Self;  by  the  whole  they  are  seen  to  be 
good.  A  seer  with  partial  sight  has  said  that  man 
is  a  god  in  ruins;  but  a  greater  has  seen  past  the 
slightly  time-damaged  frontage  to  the  whole  fabric, 
saying  simply:  "Ye  are  gods"  (Psalm  Ixxxii.  6). 
There  is  no  spiritual  pride  in  accepting  this  doctrine, 
which,  indeed,  is  ratified  by  One  Who  was  pre-emi- 
nently meek  and  lowly  in  heart  (John  x.  34).  We 
need  only  remember  that  it  is  the  total  Self  that  is 
meant.  The  present  sectional  manifestation  is  ungod- 
like  enough,  we  know  well ;  we  do  not  glorify  that — we 
want  to  improve  it  and  make  it  more  useful;  and  this 
very  want  is  a  proof  of  our  real  greatness,  for  an  ideal 
involves  a  real  which  we  dimly  sense  and  would  like 
to  draw  down  and  make  manifest. 

So  much  for  human  personality.  But,  if  we  talk 
about  religion,  we  must  go  beyond  the  human.  In 
the  West,  at  least,  a  "religion"  must  have  a  God. 
What,  then,  of  psychical  research  and  Theology? 

In  all  inquiry  the  most  hopeful  method  is  to  pro- 
ceed from  the  known  to  the  unknown.  In  seeking 
after  God,  if  haply  we  may  feel  after  Him  and  find 
Him,  it  is  wise  to  begin  from  the  standpoint  of  our 
own  most  indubitable  experience.  Therefore,  let  us 
briefly  consider  some  aspects  of  that  experience. 

There  is  a  difference  in  degree  of  certainty  in  our 
affirmation  of  things  experienced,  for  memory  is  un- 
trustworthy and  even  perception  is  liable  to  error;  so 
perhaps  the  only  certain  thing  is  a  sensation  of  the 
present  moment.  But  I  leave  these  hair-splitting  diffi- 
culties, and  start  from  the  position  that  each  one  of 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         293 

us  is  certain  of  his  own  experience  and  of  his  being 
an  experiencing  Self.  When  we  have  pain  we  know 
about  it,  and  no  amount  of  argument — not  even  Chris- 
tian Science  argument,  which  tries — can  convince  us 
that  we  are  mistaken.  The  pain  is  real.  So  with  other 
experiences,  in  varying  degree.  We  may  misinterpret 
sensations,  mistaking  a  bush  for  a  cow,  and  the  like, 
but  the  mental  experience — the  cow-thought — is  real. 
It  is  a  mental  fact. 

Closely  connected  with  this  inner  order  of  experience 
is  our  own  body.  This  lump  of  matter,  separated  quite 
definitely  from  the  remainder  of  the  material  world, 
is  associated  in  some  special  way  with  the  entity  we 
call  "I."  We  do  not  feel  pain  outside  its  borders. 
We  are  "in"  it,  manifesting  through  it,  though  the 
method  of  the  interaction  remains  entirely  unknown. 
It  is  as  true  as  when  Tyndall  said  it  in  1874,  that  be- 
tween the  physics  of  the  brain  and  the  corresponding 
facts  of  consciousness  there  is  a  gulf  that  has  not  been 
bridged — ^has  not  been  bridged,  that  is,  by  our  under- 
standing; for  in  the  actuality  there  is  no  gulf — the 
two  things  do  go  on  together,  closely  interwoven. 

Pass  now  beyond  the  body.  We  find  ourselves  in 
an  illimitable  material  universe,  compared  with  which 
our  bodies  are  infinitesimal.  In  the  first  place,  we  are 
on  the  surface  of  a  planet  8,000  miles  in  diameter.  If 
both  land  and  sea  were  covered  with  human  beings,  that 
living  scum  would  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  mass 
of  the  earth  as  a  skin  about  a  millionth  of  an  inch 
thick  would  bear  to  a  very  large  orange.  Is  it  reason- 
able to  think  that  all  the  mind  in  the  planet  has  got 
decanted  off  into  this  exceedingly  small  portion  which 
we  call  "living"  matter?    Our  bodies  are  part  of  the 


294        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

earth's  mass.  The  earth  is  our  mother.  The  dead 
cannot  give  birth  to  the  living.  If  the  earth  has  pro- 
duced living  things,  the  earth  must  be  in  some  sort 
alive.  It  seems  absurd  to  suppose  anything  else.  True, 
inorganic  activity  is  of  a  kind  different  from,  and  more 
regular  and  more  predictable  than,  the  activities  of 
living  things;  but  the  difference  may  easily  be  exag- 
gerated. Regularity  and  predictability  do  not  disprove 
the  existence  of  mind;  for  instance,  the  value  of  the 
goods  stolen  in  a  given  area  within  the  next  year  can 
be  closely  predicted,  else  the  insurance  companies  could 
not  fix  their  burglary  premiums.  By  dealing  with 
large  numbers,  and  striking  averages,  prediction  is 
possible  in  human  affairs.  And  in  the  inorganic  world 
of  physics  we  are  dealing  with  huge  aggregates  of 
molecules — a  far  huger  number  of  units  than  the  num- 
ber of  human  units  dealt  with  by  the  insurance  com- 
panies— and  this  may  account  for  the  regularity  of  their 
activities  as  seen  by  us.  However  this  may  be,  inor- 
ganic activity  there  certainly  is.  Molecules,  atoms, 
electrons,  are  in  rapid  and  ceaseless  motion.  Air  and 
ether  are  continually  undulating,  the  latter  with  in- 
conceivable rapidity.  Is  it  not  difficult  to  believe  that 
all  this  is  going  on — not  chaotically,  but  in  an  orderly 
and  intelligible  fashion — without  some  Mind  behind 
it*?  May  there  not  be  a  planet-soul,  energising  through 
the  body  of  the  earth  as  I  energise  through  my  body*? 
Of  this  Spirit  our  spirits  are  parts,  as  our  bodies  are 
parts  of  the  earth's  material  mass.  I  am  related  to  that 
Spirit  somewhat  as  one  of  my  blood-corpuscles  is  re- 
lated to  me,  or  as  a  sensation  is  related  to  my  whole 
mental  content.     The  sensation  is  remembered;  the 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         295 

individual  dies,  but  is  remembered — continues  to  exist 
in  the  Earth-Spirit. 

The  earth  is  on  a  larger  scale  than  we,  for  it  in- 
cludes us,  body  and  soul.  It  is  longer-lived  than  we 
in  our  present  modes,  and  its  development  is  accord- 
ingly slower.  Its  extreme  youth  of  turbulence  and 
chaotic  strife  among  its  elements,  human  and  other — 
as  of  a  child  driven  this  way  and  that  by  its  impulses — 
is  over,  and  maturity  is  being  reached.  Great  and 
terrible  wars  are  still  possible  among  its  human  cor- 
puscles, but  these  latter  are  at  least  beginning  to  desire 
peace.  A  great  nation  has  temporarily  reverted  to 
the  barbarous  stage  when  war  was  regarded  as  the 
natural  and  right  thing,  but  it  is  a  reversion.  The 
Earth-Spirit's  aim  is  plain:  greater  solidarity,  greater 
harmony  and  interpenetration ;  first  isolated  families, 
every  man's  hand  against  every  other  man ;  then  tribes 
at  constant  feud;  then  nations  occasionally  at  war; 
then — in  the  future — the  Federation  of  the  World. 

From  the  Earth  we  pass  to  the  other  celestial  bodies, 
and  may  permit  ourselves  to  assign  a  soul-part  to  each, 
as,  indeed,  was  done  in  cruder  form  in  earlier  days. 
Each  planet  had  its  angel — which  Kepler  was  accused 
of  irreligion  for  dethroning  by  the  bald  and  barren 
formulae  of  his  laws — and  the  Sun  had  its  Uriel.    The       / 
idea  may,  after  all,  be  true.     In  view  of  the  intense 
activity  now  known  to  be  going  on  not  only  on  the  ^ 
molar  but  on  the  molecular,  atomic,  and  electronic    -^^ 
scale,  we  can  no  longer  look  on  non-living  matter  as  C^-l-oo 
a  mere  lump  of  stuff  which  does  nothing.    It  is  doing         /t/"^ 
a  great  deal ;  and  if  it  does  it  in  a  way  which  is  orderly         ""^"^ 
and  comprehensible  to  our  minds,  it  indicates  guidance 
and  control  by  something  akin  to  those  minds.     And 


296        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies  are  orderly  also, 
and  at  the  same  time  awesome  and  majestic.  We  know 
/^little  yet  of  the  movements  of  the  "iixed  stars,"  or 
whether  the  natural  guess  of  some  central  body  or 
focus  is  true;  but  all  seem  to  be  in  motion,  and  all 
that  we  know  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  motion  is 
systematic  and  would  be  intelligible  if  we  knew  enough. 
Behind  the  phenomena  of  the  material  universe, 
then,  we  infer  a  Spirit  who  manifests  through  it  as  we 
manifest  through  our  bodies.  Nature  is  the  body  of 
God: 

^  ^    All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
;         Whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  soul.^ 

Here,  however,  presents  itself  the  age-old  Problem 
of  Evil.  Why  do  sin  and  suffering  exist,  even  for 
parts'?  If  God  as  a  whole  is  perfect,  almighty,  all- 
good,  why  do  we,  who  in  Him  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being,  so  continually  find  ourselves  in  a  condition 
which  is  very  far  from  being  good"?  I  think  this  is  a 
question  which  is  obviously  unanswerable  in  any  final 
way.  The  smaller  cannot  comprehend  the  greater. 
We  cannot  explain  the  higher  by  the  lower.  Chemical 
and  physical  laws  do  not  explain  man;  he  extends 
into  higher  realms.  Man  does  not  explain  God;  he 
can  dimly  surmise  by  analogies,  but  God  contains  and 
transcends  him.  My  blood-corpuscles — billions  of 
them — ^may  suffer  when  I  undertake  extra  exertion, 
and  thus  may  have  a  Problem  of  Evil  of  their  own; 
but  their  pain  may  serve  my  higher  purpose,  which,  if 
I  am  doing  useful  work,  may  be  justifiable  and  indeed 
very  good.    Similarly,  our  pains  may  serve  God's  pur- 

^  Pope's  Essay  on  Man.     In  what  I  have  been  here  saying,  it  will 
be  perceived  that  I  owe  much  to  Fechner. 

""  ...  -■'  j  ^ 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         297 

poses.  We  may  be  assisting  in  labours  and  processes 
more  august  than  we  can  conceive. 

I  admit,  however,  that  there  is  something  not  quite 
satisfactory  about  this  conception  of  a  finite,  struggling 
God — for  that  is  what  it  amounts  to.  It  is  true  that 
we  have  the  highest  authority  for  it,  if  Jesus's  saying 
will  bear  this  meaning,  "My  Father  worketh  hitherto, 
and  I  work"  (John  v.  17);  and  philosophers  such  as 
J.  S.  Mill,  William  James,  and  Professor  Bergson  have 
inclined  to  some  such  notion  in  order  to  retain  a  God 
who  shall  be  in  close  relation  to  us,  near  at  hand  and 
not  afar  off,  as  is  the  Absolute  and  Unconditioned  of 
Dean  Mansel  and  the  thoroughgoing  Idealists.  Per- 
haps compromise  may  be  effected  somewhat  as  follows : 
a  compromise  which  shall  satisfy  our  demand  for  illim- 
itability  and  static  Perfection  in  God,  while  still  seeing 
Divine  striving  in  the  universe — in  what  Emerson  calls 
the  continual  effort  to  mount  and  meliorate,  out  there 
in  Nature  and  within  our  own  souls.  I  put  forward 
this  compromise  scheme  with  diffidence,  for,  though 
it  may  have  occurred  to  others,  I  have  not  seen  any 
statement  of  it.  Of  course,  it  is  only  a  speculative 
"way  out,"  and,  as  already  said,  all  human  conceptions 
of  this  kind  must  be  inadequate  representations  of  the 
reality;  nevertheless,  they  help  us  to  form  some  notion 
of  it,  and  this  is  better  than  nothing,  if  it  is  a  worthy 
notion. 

God,  we  have  said,  is  the  Soul  of  the  Universe.  He 
is  immanent  in  the  material  creation,  and,  if  visualised 
only  thus,  there  is  strife  and  suffering  and  progress 
and  dualism  or  pluralism — within  Him;  and  this 
seems  unsatisfactory.  I  therefore  incline  to  represent 
God's  Personality — in  a  higher  sort  of  anthropomor- 


298        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

phism — as  consisting  of  two  portions  or  aspects  corre- 
sponding to  what  in  human  personality  we  call  the 
supraliminal  and  the  subliminal.  The  Divine  essence 
which  ensouls  the  material  universe,  and  of  which  we 
are  a  part,  is  His  so-to-speak  normal  or  lower  self; 
but  beyond  and  above  this — as  with  our  own  transcen- 
dental ego — rises  and  extends  the  Transcendent  and 
Unimaginable  Godhead,  of  which  perhaps  the  greater 
mystics  have  gleams  even  now,  and  which  Dante  has 
tried  to  give  some  feeling  of,  according  to  the  frame- 
work thought  of  his  time,  in  the  Paradiso.  "It  is 
only  the  finite,"  says  Emerson,  "that  has  wrought  and 
suffered;  the  infinite  lies  stretched  in  smiling  repose." 
Similarly  sings  Mrs.  Browning: 

And  I  smiled  to  think  God's  greatness  flowed  around  our 

incompleteness, — 
Round  our  restlessness,  His  rest. 

Theology  has  oscillated  between  the  conception  of 
a  glorified  man,  a  sort  of  irr^measurable  clergyman, 
who  sits  outside  his  universe,  watching  it  go,  and  an 
immanent,  striving,  finite  Principle,  manifesting  itself 
in  all  natural  phenomena.  The  first  philosophises  it- 
self away  into  Mansel's  Unconditioned  and  Incompre- 
hensible, who  is  indeed  presented  in  our  Prayer  Book; 
the  second  lands  us  in  variations  of  the  old  and  crude 
notion  of  two  great  warring  Spirits,  God  and  Devil, 
who  are  very  evenly  matched  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
"moral"  facts  of  life,  though  we  hold  the  faith  that 
God  will  win  in  the  end.  Both  these  extremes  of 
Transcendence  and  Immanence  are  unsatisfactory  if 
held  alone.  The  thing  to  do  is  to  combine  them.  No 
concept  formed  by  a  created  being  can  be  greater  than 


RESEARCH  AND  RELIGION         299 

the  Creator's  reality;  we  need  not  be  afraid  of  over- 
estimating Deity.  God  is  both  Immanent  and  Tran- 
scendent. He  is  the  Soul  of  the  Universe  and,  phe- 
nomena being  His  manifestation,  all  things  and  not  a 
sporadic  few  are  miraculous;  He  does  not  need  to 
step  down  and  interfere  with  Himself.  But  He  is  not 
entirely  enmattered.  He  is  Soul  of  the  material  uni- 
verse, but  He  is  also  more.  He  transcends  it.  He  is 
comprehensible  and  finite  in  His  Immanent  aspect, 
but  He  extends  into  incomprehensibility  and  infinity 
in  His  Transcendence. 

The  seen  things  are  temporal,  the  unseen  things  eter- 
nal. The  earth  and  the  heaven  shall  wax  old  like  a 
garment;  shall  pass  away  and  be  no  more  seen.  But 
the  Spirit  of  the  High  and  Holy  One  that  inhabiteth 
Eternity  shall  endure  for  ever,  with  all  of  good  that 
we  have  known — not  its  semblance  but  itself. 

With  wide-embracing  love 
Thy  spirit  animates  eternal  years, 

Pervades  and  broods  above, 
Changes,  sustains,  dissolves,  creates,  and  rears. 

Though  earth  and  man  were  gone, 
And  suns  and  universes  ceased  to  be, 

And  Thou  were  left  alone. 
Every  existence  would  exist  in  Thee.^ 

We  may  conceive,  then,  that  surviving  human  be- 
ings who  communicate  with  us  are  still  within  the  do- 
main of  God's  normal  or  immanent  consciousness, 
though  even  in  that  there  will  be  many  grades;  and 
that  eventually  those  souls,  with  our  own  and  the 
values  of  the  whole  temporal  order,  may  be  sublimed 
into  that  transcendent  portion  which  is  beyond  our 

*The  last  lines  that  Emily  Bronte  wrote:  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  8i. 


300        PSYCHICAL  INVESTIGATIONS 

comprehension.  It  is  almost  beyond  our  apprehension 
also;  but  the  facts  of  experience  impel  to  a  dim  infer- 
ence of  its  Being,  and  analogies  give  it  visibility.  And 
some  few  mystics — whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  it 
they  hardly  know — have  come  into  still  closer  touch, 
achieving  certainty  of  knowledge.  We  cannot  dismiss 
their  experiences;  they  are  data,  like  other  data.  And 
there  is  something  in  all  of  us,  I  think,  which  tells  us 
that  these  experiences  have  a  reality  that  is  more  than 
subjective.  As  even  William  James  has  said,  in  that 
direction  lies  Truth. 

It  is  well  for  the  Reason  to  criticise  intuitions — that 
is  the  quite  proper  function  of  science  and  philosophy. 
But  it  is  the  living  experiencing  Self  that  goes  forward 
into  the  new.  Religious  experience  is  its  own  warrant 
to  the  experient,  and  even  for  the  outsider  it  is  begin- 
ning to  count,  for  data  require  an  explanation,  and  the 
indications  are  clear.  And,  even  to  the  cold  Reason, 
the  facts  of  psychical  research  seem  to  justify  or  re- 
quire an  explanation  which  confirms  the  intuitions  of 
the  mystic,  that  Spirit  is  real — Matter  a  temporary  ve- 
hicle or  medium — a  dome  of  many-coloured  glass  which 
stains  the  white  radiance  of  Eternity,  as  Shelley  has  it. 
Reason  and  intuition — science  and  Religion — are  thus 
at  last  agreed. 


INDEX 


American  S.P.R.,  46 
Apparitions,   228 
Arnold,  Matthew,  267 
Astral  shapes,  229 

Balloon  simile,  274 

Balzac,   278 

Bergson,  297 

Berkeley,  246 

Blavatsky,  231 

Bournemouth,    Letter    of    A.    W. 

from,  73 
Bradford   Daily    Telegraph,    171 
Brarawell,  289 
Bromwell,    129 
Bronte,  Emily,  299 
Browning,  Mrs.,  298 

Carpenter,  Ed.,  227 
Chuang  Tze,  276 
Clapham,  145,  153,  155 
Cobbe,  Miss  F.  P.,  44 
Communicators : — 
Ainsworth,  Jonathan,  85 
Armitage,    Arthur,    72,    123 
Bannister,  James,  78,  106 
Mary,    78,   87,    106 
William,   125 
Brearley,  James,  157-9,  169-70, 

176 
Brownlow,    177 
Burns,    114 
Burroughs,  114 
Charlton,   Mr.,   41-43,   55,   107- 

III 
Cobbe,  Frances  Power,  161 
Cockin,    Joseph,    182-84 

Jun.,   182-83 
Downs,   151 
Drayton,    Henry,    27,    31,     32, 

36-37,   98-101 
Driver,     Edmund,     52-58,     79, 

103,    no.    III 
Dunlop,  Dr.,  24,  25,  72 


Communicators — continued: — 
Edmondson,  Rev.  George,   i6o, 

171-175 
Elizabeth,     related     to     Mary 

(grandmother),  128,  130 
Gurney,   163 

Hall,   Samuel  Carter,    163,   169 
Hanson,  John  Thomas,  122 
Mrs.,     82,     120-1,     122,     124, 
128,  131,  132 
Hey,  Ishmael,  92 
Jim,  124,  125,  139 
John,  70,   85-6,   94,   105,   154 
Jonas,  1 80-1 
Mary,  75-7, 111-12,  127,   136- 

7,  184.  193 
Sarah,    136,    138 
Hill,   Bannister,   71,  93,   105-7, 
167-8 
Elizabeth,    160 
James,  134,  137-8 
Mary,    82,    103,    153,    167-8, 
196-8,  217 
Hodgson,  Dr.  Richard,  159,  165 
Holden,  Amelia  (Millie),  144- 
5,  148,  180 
John,    144-5 
Lister,    144-5,    179-80 
Ingham,  Mrs.,   133,   135 
Ishmael,    78,    126,    127 
Jonas  (Ogden),  72,  95,  112 

Joseph  ,   122-3,   149,   155 

Jowett,   81,   n2 

King,  Mr.,  79-80 

Lame  Woman  (Emma  Steeton), 

59-62,  82,  86,  90,   1 13-14 
Leather,    Robert   Parberry,   25- 
28,    29-32,    34-6,    72-4,    83, 
89,  98,  150,   153 
Sarah,   34,   150 
Lee,  Betty,  143,   146,  155 
Thomas,    143,    146 
Whetley,    180-2 
Lethbridge,  Mrs.   (?),  123 
Lewis,  Mr.,   95-97,    141 


301 


302 


INDEX 


Communicators — continued: — 
Lodge,   Raymond,    192-3 
Myers,   F.  W.   H.,   209 
Napier,   Mrs.,   91,    94,   97,    ii9» 
121,  129-30,  133,  183-4,  189- 
90,   203,   254,   257-8 
Nicholson,     Mrs.     Alice,     161, 

170 
Purcell,  girl  unrecognised,  84-5, 

87 
Jabez,    140 
Timothy,  77 
young  man,   140 
Robertshaw,   Jacob,    186 

Ruth,  186 
Robinson,  Joseph,  124,  139-40 
Sarah,  nee  Hey,  72,  92 
Scanlon,  Mickey,  160,   171-75 
Sidgwick,   Henry,   159,   206-8 
Sidney,  Elias,  28-31,  36-37,  80- 

82,    88-89 
Torrington,  Benjamin,   77-79 

Helen,   74-76,   79,    93»    1 15-16 
Tranter,  Betty,   H2,   113 
Percy,  97 

Verity,   H2,    113,   ii6 
Unnamed      and      unrecognised 
forms,   80-82,    103-105,    117 
Waldron,    Thomas,    33,    34-36, 
146-7,   149,   1 51-2,   154,   183 
Walker,  unspecified,  77 
Walkley,  Mrs.,  39,  41,  103,  133, 
134,   136 
Rev.  A.  S.,  38-41,  90,  104 
Woolsorter,  unrecognised,  83 
Young    man    unnamed,    135-7, 

147-8,   151,   153-54 
Young,  Moses,  28,  80,  81 
Connor,   Dean  Bridgman,  222-23 
Controls      and      Communicators, 

224-25 
Cor.   i.   15,  49 
Crucial    test,    a,    187-90 
Cumulativeness    of    evidence,    54 

Davis,  Andrew  Jackson,  285 
Denholme,    141 
Denton,  255 

Difficulty  of  getting  evidence,  214 
Dogs,   survival   of,    i6i 
Dreams   of  the   dead,    228 
Drury,    Mrs.,    sitting    with,    215 
Dunlop  House,  24,  25,  35,  73 


Earth  Spirit,  295-6 
Eddy,    Mrs.,    231 
Elisa,   Madame,  47 
Emerson,    12,    298 
Emotional  link,  51,  52 
Ethereality  of  forms,  78-79 

Facial  indications,   64 

Falconer,   Lanoe,   49 

False  statements,  221   ff. 

Fechner,   G.   T.,   297 

Figure    "3,"    139,    141-2 

Forms  seen  by  A.  W.,  nature  of, 

226-29,    232 
Francis,  St.,  265,  270-1 

Galileo,  266 

Gladstone,    100 

G.   P.,    225 

Gradual  progress,  219 

Green's  "Short  History,"  49 

Hallucinations,  43-44 

Hare,    Dr.    Robert,    280 

Herodotus,  262 

Hodgson,   Dr.  R.,  47,   237.     (See 

also  Communicators) 
Homer,    33 
Horace,    209-212 
Horsman,   Dr.,   65-66 
Huxley,  mentioned  at  sitting,  203, 

208;   quoted,  267-68 

Idealism,  246,  298 
Immortality,  11-19 
Instinct,   289 

Intermediate  beings,   278 
Investigation  not  suitable  for  all, 
22,  233 

Jennie,  46 

Johnson,  Miss  Alice,  251,  259 

Knight,  Mr.  Frank,   53,  91,  254 
Knowlston,  27 

Lang,  Andrew,  59 
Latimer,  49 

Letter  predicted,    127-29 
Lodge,   Lady,    208 

Mr.  O.  W.   F.,  211-13 

Raymond,    202-3 

Sir  Oliver,   200-3,   206-13,   244, 
247-8,  259,  263,  270,  285 


INDEX 


303 


Longfellow,  15 
Lund,  Percy,   142 

McCabe,  Joseph,  232,  242 

McKenzie,  J.  H.,  238 

Maesbury,    129 

Mansel,  298 

May,  1861,  reference  to,  139,  141 

"Meeting"   cases,   24-50 

Memory,     untrustworthiness     of, 

199-200 
Mind  and  body,   246 
More's    "Utopia,"    48-49 
Muscle-reading,    65 
Myers,    F.    W.    H.,    201-13,    243, 

259,    262,    270,    289 

New  evidences,  23,  53 
Newton,    266 
North,  Miss,  189 

Objections  to  paid  mediums,  236 
Origen,    267 

Peer  Gynt,   16 

Personality-conception,     lengthen- 
ing of,  290;  widening  of,  288 

Peters,  A.  V.,  sittings  with,   190, 
200 

Piper,    Mrs.,    42,    222,    224-25 

Places    supernormally    named : — 
Ford  Street,  157 
Levensley,   125-26,   139-40 
Ley  ton,    177-78 
Yewton,  85-86,  122 

Planchette,   238 

Plato,  261-3,  272-3,  275 

Plotinus,  229 

Polygon  simile,  289 

Pope,  297 

Predictions,  103,  116,  127-29,  132, 
139-42,   198 

Problem  of  evil,  297 

Progress   on   the   other   side,   80, 
279 

Psalms  quoted,  293 

Psychometry,  252 

Ptolemaic  astronomy,  285 

Pythagoras,  285 


Rapping  case,  228 
Rapport-objects,   252 
Reincarnation,    13,   289 
Reservoir  incident,  143,  146,   155 

Savage,  Dr.  Minot  J.,  46 
Schopenhauer,    287 
Shelley,   300 
Sidgwick,    Dr.    H.,    244 

Mrs.,   224,  244 
Spheres,  280-5 
S.P.R.,  20,  44,  47,  ^5,   209,  224, 

246,  288 
Stead,  W.  T.,  206 
Stetson,  Mrs.,   16 
Stott,  Edmund,    55-56,   108  ' 

Subliminal  knowledge,   58,  274 
Swedenborg,  43,  285 
Symonds,   John   Addington,    17 

Table  of  sittings,  185 
^Telepathy,   242   ff. 
Tennyson,  17,  49,  245 
Thomas    a    Kempis,    275 
Three     (warning     figure),     139, 

141-2 
Time,    13 

Trance-controls,  nature  of,  223-26 
Transcendence,  Divine,  298 
Trevor,    Rev.    A.,    80-81 
Triviality  of  messages,   218-20 
Tivo    Worlds,    166,    175 
Tyrrell,    sitting   with,    156 

Urmston,  116-17 

Verrall,    Mrs.,    259 

Virgil,   18,  274 

Visions  of  the  dying,  43-45,  48 

Whitley,    Mrs.,   98 

Wilkinson,  normal  knowledge  of 
Mr.  Leather,  etc.,  36-37;  let- 
ters from,  69-71,  73,  90;  not 
regular   medium,   221 

Wood,  Dr.  F.  H.,  176-8 

Wordsworth,    290 

X,    Miss    (Goodrich-Freer),    209 
Y,  Mrs.,  case  of,  44 


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